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Sibeal Pays A Visit.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.It is selfish to believe that your family will always love you. At some point you will be asked to earn it{Right where we left off}It was H-hour plus four. A Thai soldier fired another burst from his T A R 21. The other four soldiers around him did the same. They were using an overturned car as cover. He saw movement at a building across the street to his right. He fired off another few rounds. The figure fell to the ground. By hard-earned experience, he realized the enemy soldier had probably dived for cover, not been hit."Time to fall back. One block back," he hoped he didn't sound too shrill. "You two go first," he indicated the two townsfolk. His battalion major had drafted them minutes after the attack began. Any organized supply depot had been an open invitation for an artillery strike, so he had called for civilians to help carry the ammunition loads instead. These two had been attached to his platoon. Now they were with him.They nodded, hefted up the crate of 5.56mm and sprinted toward the rear while his men gave them cover fire. They made it. He named off two of his other men. It was their turn to go. After their sprint to safety, it was time for him and the last two to go. They ran past some terribly close flanking fire, but all made it.This Thai soldier wasn't the squad leader, or even the squad's second in command. He was a lowly Phon Thahan (Private, not 1st Class). Those two men were already dead. No, he was a common soldier who found other men listening to his orders so, by default, he was in command. His initial squad of ten had shrunk down to three. The fourth man had been part of the regimental staff, a driver, sent into the firefight to replace losses. He still could point and shoot, which was all that mattered at the moment.At the next block he found the two civilians. His men dumped their empty clips on them, then positioned themselves for the next enemy rush. The leader of this ad hoc force took the driver over to the far corner of the building they sheltered behind. Too often, going inside buildings was a death trap. The enemy would corner you then call in their artillery."Guard this corner," he told the driver. "I'll be checking up on you." The frightened soldier nodded, then took up his post. Now he had a few seconds to consider his position. He was running out of town to retreat through. Behind him lay open fields. Just then he saw the tale-tell site of a Dragon Anti-Tank missile firing from the next raised roadway to his rear-right.He couldn't see if it hit anything. There was no huge explosion. Still, it indicated that other elements of his battalion were in the fight. From what little briefing he had been given when the attack started, the major had placed his heavy machine guns and recoilless rifles on each flank to stop the enemy's mobile forces from getting around his command and surrounding them.Little did the soldier understand he was involved in a textbook defense by foot-bound infantry versus armored opponents. His two townsmen were busy shoving bullets into the thirty round magazines. His men had already engaged the enemy to the front. Gone were the cries of 'got him'. No one gave a damn anymore. They were too exhausted to care. Now they counted the comrades they had left, not the possible number of enemy out there.Six minutes later he heard the sound of death coming his way."Everyone down," he screamed a second before an artillery round flattened their shelter. For a few moments all he could do was gaze up at the heavens. His body hurt, his ears were ringing and the belief that he could stop now, he had given it his best shot and his part in this battle were over.He pulled himself and examined what he had left. He wasn't hurt if you didn't count the blood coming out his ears. He couldn't say the same for his companions. One of the townsmen had the top of his head torn off, his soulless eyes gazing up to the forever. One of his men had a smoking chunk of meat where his spine should have been. A second one was nursing a bad leg wound.The third soldier? He was already up and firing. The second townsmen was a bit dazed, yet looked like he could carry on. The soldier crouch-ran to check on the driver. He was laying on his belly. For a second he mourned for that fellow then the man got off a burst, then scooted back. He had been 'playing possum' in order to draw some enemy out. He was alive and fighting."We have got to get out of here," he told the man. "Get to the elevated road across the field then provide cover fire for the rest of us." The driver acknowledged the command, fired off one more burst then bolted for the field. The Thai made his way back to his other survivors. He gave them the same order, the civilian first.The wounded man? He couldn't make it with that leg wound and if any of the others carried him they would most likely die too."Cover us as long as you can," he ordered. The wounded shoulder crawled to the corner to relieve the only standing soldier."Go," he ordered that man. Off he sprinted. The leader placed two spare clips next to the wounded man, wished him luck, then it was his turn to sprint to safety. Close to the end, a few bullets hurried him along. He found the others had made it unwounded as well. The townsman was already shoving more bullets into the empty magazines.To his right was the remnants of the squad with the recoilless rifle and a light machine gun. To his left was a group of six Thahan Phran, paramilitary border guards. He rejoined the firing line. The enemy had overrun the buildings closest to them and were faced with the same quandary he had just overcome, the open field. When a man tapped his shoulder he nearly jumped out of his skin.It was his company commander."You've been doing well. I'm placing you in command of this section. We have a Carl Gustav (another version of a recoilless rifle) in the trees over there," the Captain pointed to the right. Hold this position as long as you can. Help is on the way."Before this fight, the soldier had dreaded this officer. He had been so pompous, so spit-and-polished and arrogant. Now he saw different qualities in the man. He was cool under fire, had his mind on the bigger picture of the fight and the discipline he had instilled in his men was paying dividends the private soldier hadn't appreciated at that time."You are Sip Tho (corporal) now," the officer told him. With that declaration, the common foot soldier had inherited 13 more men, the squad of seven to his right and the six Thahan Phran to his left. Combined with his two that made something more like a combat command. The Captain made his way back up the line. The Thai didn't have long to appreciate his promotion. Smoke shells began detonating between his position and the town, obscuring the place."Remember," he shouted. "Short, controlled bursts and only shoot at something that you know is out there!" With that, he had established his command of the situation. Several explosions detonated in the wooded position. Half a minute later, a tank appeared and pumped another H E into the position. In doing so, it exposed its side to Thai's section.The two men manning his Dragon launcher looked his way. It was a shot at a 45 degree angle and any heavy weapons fire would bring about all kinds of hate."Fire," he ordered. The man aiming the device took a few seconds then let loose. The rocket didn't penetrate the side, but it did knock a track out."Now we are going to get it," the Thai mumbled.A few heartbeats later, a larger TOW missile slammed into it from a position to his command's rear. This time the tank blew up. Of equal importance to the soldier's mind, there were men behind him and that could only mean, the second regiment had finally arrived. He was sure he wouldn't be falling back any further, giving the invaders one more inch of sacred Thai soil. It also meant his men would most likely live to see the end of the day. That mattered too.  It was H-hour plus six. Two hour earlier, elements of the Vietnamese People's Army's 314th Mechanized regiment and 206th Tank Regiment with the Mobile battalion of the Laotian 1st Division and the Khanate's Laos Force Command slammed into Khon Kaen. By that time, the small city had already seen its share of hell. Khanate forces had stormed the regional airport with an aerial assault at 4:10 AM that morning.There were no dedicated combat troops in Khon Kaen. It was the HQ for both the Royal Thai 3rd Division and its component 1st regiment. That had resulted in a see-saw battle until the relief force arrived from the north. After that, resistance had collapsed. Over three hundred men surrendered. A hundred miles to the north forces in the town of Udon Thani, battalions of the 1st and 2nd regiments of the 3rd Division were still in combat with Laotian and Vietnamese forces. The final outcome of that battle had yet to be decided.What did matter was that the entire command structure of northeast of Thailand had been neutered. There were five more battalions out there that had no idea what to do next. They suffered from sporadic air attacks, but nothing serious was coming their way.What none of them were aware of was that a Far North Force out of the Laotian highlands had broken a battalion of the Royal Thai's 6th Infantry Division, taken Roi Et and severed the communications between the two formations. At Roi Et, the Khanate armored spearhead had left elements of the 2nd Regiment of Lao's 4th Division to hold the airport and was blazing a trail westward along Highway 23, to the south/rear of those five battalions.South of Roi Et, two other Thai battalions were grudgingly giving ground to a regiment of Vietnam's 305th Division plus the 270th Combat Engineers and 16th Artillery Brigade. What mattered was that those forces were drawing off the efforts of the 6th Divisions to counteract the invasion.The 6th Division had its own litany of woes. It was the subject of a dozen pinpricks. The division's commander had lost contact with the other two divisions under the 2nd Army's command. He had enemy forces to his north around Amnat Charoen, he'd lost contact with this 1st regiment HQ at Roi Et.His second regiment, at Ubon Ratchathani, was heavily engaged with the Alliance's North Force. His 3rd regiment, spread out along the southern approaches to his life line, Highway 24, had discovered small teams of Special Forces at every bridge and crossing, making every attempt at creating a unified front costly and ultimately futile.The 2nd Army's HQ and supply hub were at Nakhon Ratchasima. They were under attack, the airport had fallen and the sole mechanized regiment (minus one battalion) was having a terrible time retaking it. They were presently incapable of coming to his defense, since their third battalion had already been called to the capital to put down unrest/enemy forces.He finally made his decision. The remnants of the 1st regiment were to retire westward over the back roads towards the division headquarters at the Si Sa Ket Railway Station. The second regiment was to hold in place until sunset. Using all of the division's remaining assets, he was going to secure Highway 24 so that his command could retire using that path before they were cut off and defeated one regiment at the time.  It was H-hour plus seven. For one of the drivers in a Khanate Heavy Mountain Supply Zuun, there wasn't much to love about this mission. He was a truck driver with a weapon, not a true foot soldier. He was content with his role in logistics, which was why his current mission scared the crap out of him. He wasn't in an armored vehicle and was accompanied by only one Fast Zuun ~ by its very nature a lightly armored unit. Now he was driving deep into enemy territory with a truckload of Karin freedom fighters, who also were lightly equipped.He had already reached the first goal, the town of San Buri, 270 kilometers behind enemy lines and only 60 kilometers from downtown Bangkok. There was a fear that his own air force would mistake then for an enemy supply column and shoot them up. Then there was the fear that some rear echelon troops would find the convoy suspicious and fill his unarmed vehicle with holes. His luck held, the enemy were looking to the north and east, not at a group of trucks heading south.Soldiers from the rebel faction of the Thai Royal Army were stationed in each vehicle to cover any conversation with the local constabulary that might come up. The cover story was that the unit was driving with a purpose ~ the capital was under attack and they were reinforcements using back roads to avoid airstrikes ~ the phone network was a mess and the fact that the plan was so audacious, the normal police officers didn't feel the need to slow the military trucks down.The last phase was pure madness. They rolled down Road 304 at 80 kph. Every time they approached a checkpoint, the unit's commander called in a hopefully faux airstrike, on both them and the Thai soldiers. That made it plausible for the convoy to race forward as the troops around them were too busy diving for cover to stop them. If anything, the defenders thought those truck drivers were the bravest men they'd ever seen.At the end of the journey, they rolled across the Road 304 Bridge over the Chao Praya River, then dispersed. Each truck disgorged 16 Karin fighters, for a total of 560. To that was added the 100 members of the Fast Zuun and 35 drivers, three Tigr's and 59 combat troops. Miracles of miracles, they found the capital to be in total chaos.  It was H-hour plus 6 and a half. The Turkish Khanate commander of 100 looked south in the direction of In Buri. He was already in the 'spread chaos' phase of his operation. The central part of In Buri was the junction of Highways 11 and 32. Somewhere to the far north, friendly units were fighting their way to him. Forces retreating south, or reinforcements from Bangkok would have to pass through his position. He commandeered some passing civilian vehicles and created barricades on all three sides of the T-cloverleaf.Before long, the ground elements of an Airmobile Zuun had joined him. That allowed him to deploy several two-man observer teams over the surrounding countryside. He left two AFV's on the bridge and camouflaged the others in the best ambush points he could think of. Then, he waited.  It was H-hour plus eight. For Julia Atwood, this was the culmination of twenty-five years working in Asia, covering a host of military conflicts and both natural and man-made humanitarian disasters. She'd gotten a tip two days earlier that Bangkok Thailand was going to be the place to be. Since she wasn't a known anti-government reporter, her entry into the country had been easy enough.She had spent the previous day picking a city guide, luckily finding one she knew well, and looking around for sources of information about 'trouble'. What she found was a quiet city on the edge of an explosion. The police, paramilitary forces and the military had everything battened down tight. At the same time, the population was extremely anxious over the upcoming loyalist offensive against the rebel northwest.The military had clamped down on all information coming out of the prospective war zones while exhorting on all forms of mass media the sacred traditions of Thai national identity and the need for law and order. That made the hairs on the back of Julia's neck tingle. It spoke of an upcoming shit storm. Still, Day One had been a bust. Few people wanted to talk about what was going on; all known opposition leaders were in prison or in exile.She had awakened early in the morning to the sound of heavy weapons fire. She had been in enough war zones to know the difference between grenades exploding, or pistol, assault rifle, machine gun, and tank fire. She was hearing tank fire, which made no sense. The Thai army didn't need to use their tank's big guns to fire at anything the opposition could bring to bear.She slipped out the back of her hotel to avoid any possible police minder, gathered up her guide and went hunting for the story. Twice she barely avoided roving army patrols. What immediately occurred to her was these soldiers didn't seem to know what was going on. They were jumpy (not good) and nervous (great for a story).Her trained ears and years of instinct led her to one of the eyes of the storm. Julia's jaw nearly dropped open. There were Central Asian men riding around in Russian equipment surrounded by throngs of hundreds, possibly thousands, of Thai 'Red Shirt' protestors marching on a police barricade. Several leaders of the movement had bullhorns and were communicating with the police. It was a tense situation.Julia forced her way to the BMP-3M, then shouted up at the commander standing in the copula. She tried Uzbek. The man looked her way."No. I'm Kazak. My Uzbek isn't very good," he replied. Julia's Kazak wasn't the best in the world, but she endeavored to make it work."What are you doing here?""I could ask you the same thing," the man smiled. "We are part of the Alliance effort to bring about democratic change in this country." Julia knew he was spouting the party line."What are you really doing here?" she pressed."I have no idea," he chortled. "I don't speak this language, don't know who these people are and only found out where Thailand was two days ago.""Are there a lot of you here?""Not really.""How did you get here?""We landed at the airport. We are a portion of an airmobile Zuun."Just then one of the protestors tried to get the unit leader's attention. He kept repeating something."He wants you to advance on the police line and look menacing," she translated."Okay," the Khanate officer shrugged. "That I can do."He spoke rapid fire Kazak, which Julia couldn't quite follow. Her ride lurched forward, the crowd parted and she could see the blood drain out of the police commander's face. Without looking her way, the Kazak spoke to Julia."Tell them they have thirty seconds to put down their arms or I'm going to shred the lot of them."Julia thought about it for a second. She was recording this exchange on her camcorder. She knew this was straying dangerously close to becoming a participant, not a reporter. She translated to the Thai young man. He sprinted toward the police and relayed the message. She had no idea what a 100mm fragmentation shell would do, had an idea how bloody a 30mm auto-cannon could get and had great familiarity with the effectiveness of 12.7 & 7.62mm machine guns.The lead protestor had a rapid discussion with the lead policeman, bowing and begging for this situation to be resolved peacefully. The countdown reached eight when the officer indicated his acquiescence. The mob didn't surge forward victoriously. Julia slapped the turret to get the Kazak's attention."You don't need to fire.""I understand that," the man acknowledged. It wasn't over though. Another protestor, a woman, waved for the Kazak's attention. Since she wasn't alone in doing so, the man hadn't noticed her. What she was saying did get Julia's attention."She is saying that tanks are on the way!" she shouted at the man in the copula."Which direction?" he inquired. Julia confirmed the information relayed by the girl, who double checked with the person on the other end of her phone, worked out the terrain in her head, then drew a quick map on her palm."They are coming up the road one block up. They are heading north toward us.""Clear out the crowd," he responded evenly. He once more ordered his unit to action. One of the Tigr's raced forward and disgorged its men close to the next corner then the vehicle withdrew."What do you plan to do?" she asked."Do what I came here to do, kill the enemy.""But they have tanks.""Fortunately I have things that kill tanks," he grinned."Do you mind if I stick around?""It is your life," he shrugged. The BMP moved forward to the point where, with its barrel turned sideways, the vehicle was just short of exposing itself. He was busy talking to someone else.Seconds later, one of the Khanate soldiers at the corner launched a grenade up the street, then two others opened fire with their assault rifles. They ducked back around the corner right as a larger caliber machine gun chewed up the wall as well as the street in front of her. Two other soldiers fired off flares into the sky."You might want to get down," the Kazak advised her. Julia nodded, jumped off and ran to the corner to join the other troopers. She edged around the corner, leading with her camcorder. Sure enough, up the street was an honest-to-God tank, with others behind it. One of the foot-bound Kazaks was busy shouting at the others. Once more, a soldier fired a grenade at the tank, to no visible effect. This time he apparently got the response the Kazaks wanted.The tank's big gun fired. One of the troopers, mindful of Julia, grabbed her as they propelled themselves to the ground. The world exploded. Julia was doing a quick check of her well-being when she heard the BMP race forward, barrel turned perpendicular down the street and then it fired. Julia barely caught it all on her camera. The IFV had fired an anti-tank missile out of its main gun. The oncoming tank was a Ukrainian made T-84 Oplot.It exploded; the turret flying away in a curtain of flame. This time it was the blast that blew Julia to the ground. A Kazak soldier hefted her up and pulled her to safety. He was truly pissed when she dodged back into the danger zone to retrieve her camcorder. She sighed happily when she found it undamaged. The BMP rolled back behind cover."Get down," the Kazak ground pounder growled. "It is about to get a whole lot worse.""How?" she looked at him."Well, now that we have stopped the column from moving," he grinned like a maniac. That wasn't much of an answer. Then she noted all the Kazaks clutching at the concrete sidewalks. She did likewise. Seconds later, she heard the jets. 'Oh God', she gulped. She'd seen more than her fair share of airstrikes. She had never been this close to one.Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the Thai crowd moving closer."Get down," she screamed in Thai. "Get Down!"Others repeated her warning and the crowed went down to their knees. Then came the thunder. Julia could barely make out the whoosh of missiles before the detonating rockets and missiles shook her world.A stubby-winged jet raced past her vision. The pilot had gotten so damn close to the building tops she could make out every feature of his aircraft. This level of caution where civilians were concerned was surprisingly unlike the Khanate. She tried to stand, but the soldier next to her had wrapped an arm around her."They come in twos," he cautioned her.Sure enough another series of explosions rocked her surroundings. No sooner had she gotten to her feet, the Kazak commander shouted,"They are coming around for another pass, then we go!"A series of passes followed with the jets using auto-cannons on whomever was left out there.Julia pushed away from her guardian and rushed up to the BMP officer."Wait," she called to him. Stunningly, he waited, looking at her. "Let the crowd save the survivors. This is their struggle too.""If the soldiers fire on them there will be little I can do," he responded."Give them a chance."Against all her expectations, he did. The crowd moved to discover the carnage visited on their oppressors, and fellow countrymen.  It was H-hour plus eight. The Thai tank commander was close to the end of his rope. He'd been fighting since sunrise. Defend, attack, withdraw to a defensive position then wait for the order to counterattack. His platoon had dwindled down to his sole surviving tank. His company no longer acted as a separate entity. Now his battalion, barely a company in strength, operated as a fire brigade, shoring up his beleaguered battle group.The last attack, backed by air power, had shattered his unit. He fell back, literally backing into a second story building to avoid the ever-present Alliance attack helicopters. From his vantage point he could see a column of armored vehicles rolling down Highway 11. He was debating which one he would fire on first when he noticed a jeep coming his way. Onboard were three Thai soldiers, rebels.The jeep rolled right up to his hiding spot. The man in the back dismounted and he walked right up to the tank."Can we talk?" the man inquired. The tank commander kept him covered with this machine gun."What do you have to say, traitor?" he barked."I come to request,""We will not surrender," he growled."We are not asking you to surrender," the man corrected him. "We are asking you to let the war pass you by.""Why should I?""If you fight, you will be destroyed. The Thai army will need to rebuild when this is over and we must be strong. If you throw your life away, we will all be weaker."The tank commander had to think that over. If he began firing on that armored column he would be striking a mighty blow for his country. He would also be sentencing him and his men to death."There will be no surrender?""No sir," the man insisted.The rebel soldier made some sense. The Thai military would have to rebuild when this catastrophe was over. He and his men had done their part."We will stay here for a while," the tank commander informed the rebel."Very well," the soldier bowed. He remounted his jeep and drove away."We are going to stay here a while," he addressed his crewmen. "Get a bite to eat and a drink of water."His men hesitated for a moment."Now, while we have the chance."The men hopped to. They had their orders. They would worry about the morality of their actions later.  It was H-hour plus nine. The men in the Royal Thai Army's high command were finally getting ahold of the big picture. The good news was the Third Army's offensive was grinding to a halt along a line stretching along Highway 1 from Tham Pet Tham Tong Forest in the east to Chai Nat on the Chao Praya River in the west. It was accepted as fact that the 3rd Cavalry and 11th Infantry divisions could hold the line.West of the Chao Praya was a chaotic mess of small garrisons involved in raids and counter-raids. It was deemed unlikely the Alliance forces could push forward any further in that direction either. It also meant that they couldn't pull units from that region to reinforce any of their other trouble points and they had a few.That was most of the good news.Another piece of good news was the1st Army's 2nd Infantry Division had stopped the invasion force they were facing only a few kilometers over the frontier in the area of Watthana Nakhon District. As soon as they had gathered the majority of the division together, they would be mounting a counter-offensive with the intention of overwhelming that force and destroying it.After that, it only got worse.In the area of the 2nd Army, the 3rd Infantry Division and the 2nd Cavalry Division had virtually ceased to exist as cohesive forces. Two battalions of the 3rd Division were retreating south into the 6th Division's area. The 2nd Cavalry division had been reduced pre-battle to one mechanized regiment. That regiment was gone and with it, the supply routes for the 2nd Royal Thai Army.Inside that zone, the 6th Infantry Division still existed, but it was in a world of trouble. They had lost control of Highway 24, their primary supply/evacuation route, and were relentlessly being driven out of Ubon Ratchathani. Even with the slowly arriving battalions of the 3rd Division, the 6th could barely muster two combat-effective regiments and those were running short of fuel and ammunition. The 6th had become a static force, too large to be overwhelmed, too immobile to press the enemy out, or save themselves from a slow strangulation. Had they their assigned tank battalion, but they didn't.The 1st Army's 9th Division was in the worst shape. They had gathered into one elliptical shaped perimeter centered on Chanthaburi and were down to four battalions and two tanks. Technically, they had another battalion, except the 1st Army command had ordered that into Bangkok to aid in suppressing the rebel movement. The 9th Division was surrounded, under attack from the land, sea (the Indian Navy had joined the fight) and air. Their commanding general expected to be wiped out before sunset.And Bangkok?It was turning into a typhoon scale disaster. They had finally determined that there were eight small Khanate platoons roaming the city, seemingly at will. The 1st Division had finally located and destroyed one of those, along with a dozen protestors who chose to fight by their side. The others were still at large and causing trouble.That wasn't the worst of it though. The plan had been to pacify outlying neighborhoods and work their way in to the worst areas. That had started out effectively, then suddenly they had lost the northwestern and southeastern sectors. In the northwest, there were Karin fighters killing, or capturing police and paramilitary strongpoints.In the southeast, it was much worse. Unknown armored troops from the 9th Division's rear area had come seeping in along the riverfront. They seemed to be everywhere at once, surprising roadblocks and checkpoints then ambushing the forces sent to restore order. They were a cancer pushing into a city already short on reserves.There were public displays of defiance going out over the international news, surgical air strikes and a growing sense among the rank and file 'Guardians of the Public Order' that they were on the losing side. There were reports of police turning their backs on the unrest, directing traffic and arresting petty criminals instead.The Royal Thai Army in Bangkok still had over 50,000 men under its command. They were sure they were facing less than a thousand hardcore militants, yet they were losing control of the streets. Part of that was caused by the military being tied down to certain strategic areas they had to hold. They had to protect over a dozen buildings and, as they had painfully learned, a platoon wouldn't do.The Government House had been temporarily overrun and Parliament had been shelled. Channel 3 had been hijacked and the forces sent to take it back had been subject to intense helicopter attacks and driven back. They'd killed two such craft, but that only seemed to make the Alliance troops angrier. This was what a death by a thousand cuts felt like. This was worse than bad, because it looked bad on media going out all over the world.  It was H-hour plus twelve. The commander of the MARCOS had finally taken the time to eat. He was in the Maleenont Towers section of Khlong Toei, Bangkok. It had been his masterstroke, seizing the Channel 3 station. He wasn't sure who the eight shady characters who showed up with the VIPs were and he didn't really care. What did matter was while the VIP's fought like wildcats in private they were putting on a unified front while on TV.One of the VIPs was the former civilian Prime Minister of Thailand. The other guys seemed to hate her guts, but were willing to work with her to overthrow the generals. What he did care about was the nearly five hundred men under his command plus a dozen helicopters and jets somewhere above, waiting to swoop in and help when the next government attack materialized.He had to give them this much, the police forces had guts, not a lot of brains, but plenty of guts. Their counter-terrorism unit had known their stuff, but they didn't have any effective anti-tank weapons and he had a half dozen tanks. Whenever the army got feisty, he called up 'Shiva's Fist' ~ his men's joking reference to the Khanate air support. Those bastards not only killed you, they came back around and killed your corpse too.He got a call from the perimeter. Some of those Karin fighters had crossed half the city to join them. The Indian officer had thought that part of the Khanate plan was utter madness, yet here they were, shooting up the place in a manner only highly experienced insurgents could. Those guys didn't even want to hang around. They were asking for more ammo. The locals were giving them all the food and water they needed.At nine, once it was truly dark, the Khanate was promising to drop off a few tons of whatever they need plus some more medivac units. He was down nine men dead and twenty-seven wounded badly enough they need to be removed. The Khanate had lost four times as many. All in all, the overthrow of a military regime was turning out to not be as difficult as he thought it would be. He was waiting to be surprised.  It was H-hour plus fifteen. The fighting had died down and now the main activity was the Thai civic authorities fighting the fires burning in Saraburi. The Khanate Commander of 1000 looked over his shoulder at the burning city. It hadn't been much of a fight, mainly a few rear echelon forces from the Royal Thai 2nd Army and some paramilitaries.He wasn't in the town. The majority of his troopers had already rolled down to the junction of Highways 1 and 33. He had communication with other elements farther west on Highway 32 at Ang Thong and to the northwest at the junction of Highways 1 and 32. The offensive operations was essentially over for his command. That was just as well. He was running low on petrol. He still had plenty of ammunition though.They were sitting on the lifeline for the 1st Army's 3rd Cavalry and 11th Division to the north and the 2nd Division to the east. The 6th Division was too far in his rear to matter and the 9th Division was facing annihilation along the coast. It was very dark now, but the air force was still active. Some pilots were flying their sixteenth mission of the day.For most of the day, the Khanate Air Force had concentrated on his axis of advance and the battle in Bangkok. The Vietnamese Air Force had concentrated on the hapless 9th Division. In reality, the Alliance was almost at the end of its tether.His combined Laos and Far North Task Forces were spent. The North and Cambodian Task Forces had the 6th Division pinned down. The South Task Force had done the same with the 9th. Only the Central Task Force facing the 2nd Division appeared to be in serious trouble.None of those formations were actually near defeat, though many of them wouldn't realize that until morning. Only the 3rd Army's two task force had consisted of more than 5,000 hastily gathered troops and most of those were Cambodians, Laotians and Vietnamese. To that the Khanate had added 50 mobile Zuuns spread over ten task forces and another 50 airmobile, parachute and airlifted units ~ less than ten thousand men and women spread over all fronts.The cold, hard reality for him was that not a single loyalist Thai unit had been destroyed. The 3rd and 9th infantry divisions has been battered, that was true. The majority of their mobile forces, the 2nd and 3rd cavalry divisions, still existed as a potent force. The 11th and 2nd infantry divisions were also out there, but they were all cut off from the capital. And in this elegant global play, the one theater that mattered was Bangkok.In the morning, if they came for him, the loyalist Thai's were going to discover that offense was a lot more painful that defense. Only the 2nd Division bothered him. The forces to the north were too heavily engaged with the rebel Thai 3rd Army to dispatch more than a battalion his way and he would gobble up a battalion.It would be too much to ask the battered Alliance Center Task Force to keep the 2nd Division occupied. From what he had heard, they were on the verge of disintegration after a powerful Loyalist counterattack. He did have patrols on the 304 and 359 Roads in case their commander got creative. What those few men lacked in vehicles, they would compensate for with air power.The Khanate Air Force was a 24/7, all-weather operation. They had lost 40 aircraft to enemy action and a further forty to mechanical malfunction. Losses in helicopters was also high. But there were still enough of both to get the job done. Now all he had to do was wait for the Americans to arrive.  It was H-hour plus seventeen.There were only three major acts left in this macabre play before the eyes of the world. A squadron of 12 Tu-22M bombers found two of the 2nd Division's regiments sneaking to the west. The Thais had done this with as much secrecy as they could. Unfortunately, their move was one of only two option left to the Loyalist Royal Thai Army.Option One, the most likely one, had the 2nd Division attacking the Khanate troops south of Saraburi. It would not only give the 2nd Division freedom of movement, it would establish supply lines to the divisions currently holding the rebel Thai Third Army at bay. It was the predictable choice.The Khanate U A V were out there, scouting for them and when they spotted the three columns using the backroads to approach their attack positions, they relayed that information to a not-so-distant A-50E/I. The squadron of waiting bombers had incredible endurance and had been circling the suspected target area for three hours. They broke up into groups of six then into groups of two. The first two lined up on their targets then unleashed their lethal cargo.Each plane dropped sixty-nine 250 kg bombs. That was138 bombs with a combined explosive power of 75,900 lbs. spread out over three-quarters of a mile. The A-50 assessed the damage for 7 minutes before sending the second set of two in. Another 138 bombs. Another 75,900 lbs. of death. The third group wouldn't be needed. In ten minutes the fighting power of the 2nd Royal Thai Infantry Division had evaporated.Option Two? That called for the 1st Infantry Division, with her added units, to sally forth from Bangkok and rescue the trapped elements of their other divisions. That would have entailed abandoning large areas of the capital to the protestors and the tiny groups of invaders that were helping them. No one thought they would do that and they were right. Had they been wrong, there was another squadron of bombers waiting for them.  It was H-hour plus nineteen. The Thai Phon Thahan-turned-Sip Tho looked out into the darkness. Four hours ago he was anticipating crossing the Cambodian border and burning down their town for a change. Now, now it was wait-and-see. The majority of the division had withdrawn for a long night march to the west. From what he had gathered, the 2nd Army had been pummeled and it was once again the time for the 2nd Division to save the day.He spotted movement in front of him. He glanced over to his 'sniper', a Thahan Phran who was the best shot in his unit and had a taste for the task. The man had the target in his sights."I come to parlay," the voice in the darkness shouted in less than perfect Thai. The Thai soldier had to think what that meant. His instinct was to shoot the man. His training taught him to not make choices above his pay grade."Advance. Don't do anything stupid," he called out. To the man next to him he whispered, "Go get the Captain." The man slunk away. No one alive in the unit stood up to do anything. You even pissed crouched down. The man coming toward him was a Cambodian. It was evident in both his gear and accent. "What do you want?""We want a truce," the man replied. He remained very erect, his hands in the air and only made slow, careful movements."I should shoot you," he growled."That would be unfortunate for both of us. I would, of course, be dead, and my allies would open up with our artillery."The conversation was truncated by the captain's arrival. They went through much of the same routine, absent the 'I should kill you part' and the counter-threat. The captain turned to the Thai soldier."Blindfold and bind this man's hands then take him to the Phan Ek (Colonel). Let him figure this out."Without the soldier saying anything the Captain added, "This could be a ruse. I must stay here. Hurry."He nodded, took a shirt from one of the civilian volunteers, cut it into strips then blindfolded and bound the man."If you so much as sneeze, I'll put a bullet in your head," he warned the man."I understand," the Cambodian replied. The soldier took the Cambodian one block behind the lines, spun the man around several times, then led him toward the command bunker. He spun him around twice more before making his final approach. A wounded junior officer met him at the entrance."Come on," he took custody of the man. Having nothing else to do and not having been ordered to release the prisoner, the soldier followed along.The Regimental Commander had the man un-blindfolded. His hands remained bound."What do your masters want?" the Major snapped."They want a truce," the Cambodian blinked in the sudden bright light."You invaded us without a declaration of war. That makes you criminals, not combatants.""We attacked at the request of the legitimate authority in Thailand, the Commanding General of the Royal Thai Third Army.""Those men are rebels and you will not refer to them as anything but," the Phan Ek insisted."Very well. My Commander wishes to let you know that our mobile hospital has arrived. We wish to exchange prisoners and place our facilities at your disposal as well.""The Royal Thai army will be there soon enough," the Major glowered."Unlikely. Our Khanate allies have informed us that most of your division was destroyed on the road. You have one battered regiment and a handful of tanks. You are not going anywhere."The soldier wanted to slap the smug smile off the man's face."I do not have the authority to hand over prisoners until their status as POWs or criminals has been established," the senior officer countered."If you consider our men criminals, we will treat your men like traitors.""Are you threatening me?""Yes. A fact you should be aware of is that the Khanate has been flying in reinforcements since noon and we have five more armored, mechanized and artillery Zuuns to attack with. Come sunrise, we will be coming at you again unless we have a truce.""Now you are threatening us again," the Phan Ek pointed out."I am explaining the realities of your situation, nothing more," the Cambodian countered. "Our task force commander believes that further violence will be futile. You have done your job and we have done ours.""And your job was to keep us occupied so you could rape and pillage other parts of our country?""No sir. The Alliance forces have been operating under very strict guidelines. The Thai people are our allies and we are a liberating force," the Cambodian replied."You consider this town 'liberated'? You've destroyed it," the Phan Ek noted."It was unfortunate that you chose to fight us here."The Colonel studied the man silently for thirty seconds."I will agree to a two hour truce. That should allow me to contact my superiors for further clarification on my mission. We will hand over any critically injured 'invaders'. You will return any POW's you are holding in exchange.""Agreed," the Cambodian immediately responded."Just like that? It is really within your authority to make such a deal?""As I said earlier Phan Ek, we believe the fighting is over. We don't need your captured men. We would like to see as many as our comrades live as possible. No matter what your commanders say, the fact remains that if you come out of these ruins, you will be slaughtered. You know that. I know that. Peace is the only avenue that leads to any level of success. Today, today, both our forces did what our commanders told us to do. The dying should stop.""Go. The truce will take effect in, fifteen minutes ~ 12:12 am. We will transfer prisoners and wounded at your point of entry. We will both give a warning whistle fifteen, ten, five and one minute before the truce ends at 2:12 am. Do you understand?"The Cambodian repeated the terms of the truce. He was bound up then sent back with the Sip Tho."Do you really think this is the end of the fighting," he asked his blind captive."On the lives of my children I hope so," the man sighed. "I led 88 men into battle this morning and now I'm down to 46 effectives. I have lost too many already for a battle that wasn't in my nation's best interest. I am tired of the killing.""Me too," the Thai said a moment later. After he delivered him to the Captain on the front lines, the man was unbound."Good luck," he found himself saying."Good luck for both of us," the Cambodian gave a weary smile. "May we not meet again.""If I see you again, I will kill you.""I feel the same way," the man chuckled. "We are both soldiers doing what more powerful men have commanded us to do. I don't know about you, but I have had enough." Several Thai soldiers nodded. They had driven the enemy off Thai soil. Continuing the fight didn't seem to have much of a point.  

In this episode, Kiho talks about the meaning and practical usage of the Korean words listed in the Oxford English dictionary. A Korean speech made by a member at the end of the last year is included. This show was broadcast on OAR 105.4FM Dunedin - oar.org.nz

Canadian mining giant Barrick halted its operations in Mali after the government seized gold stocks worth $245 million.What's the story behind the Nigerian words added to the Oxford English dictionary ? And what the death of the warlord turned politician Prince Yormie Johnson means for Liberia.Presenter: Audrey Brown Producers: Frenny Jowi in Nairobi with Victor Sylver, Blessing Aderogba, Rob Wilson, and Nyasha Michelle in London. Senior Producer: Paul Bakibinga Technical Producer:Craig Kingham Editors : Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi

We welcomed the talented author Lily Samson! Lily, an Oxford English graduate and publishing professional, splits her time between the bustling cities of London and Paris. When she's not working, you can find her indulging in Hitchcock movies or exploring her creative side as a freelance artist.In this episode, we dove into her thrilling debut novel, The Switch. This psychological thriller, hailed as a Sunday Times Style Hot Read and one of Cosmopolitan's Best Books of 2024, promises to be a gripping and unputdownable experience.The Switch introduces us to two couples: Elena and Adam, who are housesitting in upscale Wimbledon, and their enigmatic neighbors, Sophia and Finn. A seemingly harmless proposition to swap partners soon spirals into a dark and dangerous game, leading to unexpected and shocking twists.Critics have praised The Switch for its compelling narrative and complex characters:“Shocking, seductive, sexy and scandalous. The Switch is a page-turning thriller, a clever mystery, and a wicked look at love and loyalty.” – Chris Whitaker“Perfectly paced, with a shocking ending to boot!” – Sandie Jones“Keeps you guessing until the very last page.” – Lola Jaye“Dark, twisty, and deliciously sexy.” – Kia Abdullah“A rollercoaster ride with twists you can't see coming.” – Robert Gold“Dangerously seductive... What a ride!” – Tami HoagTune in to hear Lily discuss the inspiration behind her novel, the intricate themes of money, class, power, and deception, and what it's like to write a debut that's taken the literary world by storm. Don't miss this exciting interview!

From the Oxford English to the Merriam-Webster, English language dictionaries are well established in the U.S. But the effort to create dictionaries of indigenous languages is growing, including a new one capturing Cape Verdean Creole. A local publisher is documenting the common tongue of the West African nation — and of many Greater Boston immigrants — in an English to Cape Verdean dictionary to be published later this year. GUESTS Manuel Da Luz Goncalves, founder and owner of Mili Mila Inc. Abel Djassi Amado, associate professor of political science and international relations at Simmons University

Hold on! It's a feisty, delightful experience, Poptarts! This week we over-discuss: Christopher makes a mess and then leaves The not-derailment of Christopher's life (aka Rachel's soapbox) Christopher's undeserved pedestal Egregious upon egregious happenings An infantilized Rory The whole Hayden family is trash Rory and Lorelai make it hilarious The size of President Bush's face Oxford-English dictionary updates The town gossip phone tree Travis Kelce=Evermore=Jackson Grandma tenderness Public sex Traveling with a full suit and a bottle of alcohol G is for gross Mae Martin's conception (check out their fantastic special “SAP”) And ask important questions: Why did everyone stay at the Gilmore house? What planet does Christopher live on? Who has sex on a balcony with the lights on when other people are around? Send us your thoughts or just say hi (good vibes only!) at gilmoredpodcast@gmail.com or follow us on Insta @gilmoredpod.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gilmored/message

We cover the Oxford English dictionary's word of the year: rizz. What does it mean, and why has it become a mainstay in the Gen-Z vernacular? Learn More: https://viewpointsradio.org/viewpoints-explained-do-you-have-rizz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's episode will look at ways as a nonprofit leader to strengthen your ability to persevere.Perseverance is necessary to be successful as a nonprofit ED.Lately I have been consumed with mastering perseverance and learning what it takes to stay the course.The Oxford English dictionary defines perseverance as ‘persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.'This episode explores four behaviors which which will help you persevere in the face of obstacles as a nonprofit leader. 1. Being agile2. Asking for help3. Setting incremental benchmarks4. Being grounded in your purposeFind more practicable tips on my website Relish Your Role. com. I have so much respect for the work you do! Thanks for listening.

This is me. “Irreligion is defined as a rejection of religion, but whether it is distinct from lack of religion is disputed. The Encyclopedia of religion and society defines it as the "rejection of religion in general or any of its more specific organized forms, as distinct from absence of religion";[5] while the Oxford English dictionary defines it as want of religion; hostility to or disregard of religious principles; irreligious conduct;[6] and the Merriam Webster dictionary defines it as "neglectful of religion : lacking religious emotions, doctrines, or practices".[7] A lot of believers value The Old Testament over the red letters of Jesus. Nonbelievers read the entire Bible, lots of believers don't. Nonbelievers read the Bible, lots of believers don't. Lastly, nonbelievers are courageous about reading the Bible and lots of believers are afraid to read the Bible. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/antonio-myers4/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/antonio-myers4/support

Learning has become a superpower in the modern world we live in. But learning at a deep level is something that is extremely challenging. In this episode we explore the topic of Intentional Mastery and why it matters.Key topics covered in this episode:

If ever there was a story whose subject was small but whose effect was immense--i.e., the central theme of Infinitesimal Impossibilities--this would be that story.We don't often think about where words come from, and when we do it's usually pretty selective. This is for good reason: the English language has an almost unquantifiable number of words. And yet, back in the 19th century, the first serious endeavors were made to quantify these multitudes of words. The United States came first with the famous Webster's Dictionary (now Merriam-Webster), but the far more comprehensive and complete English dictionary--the Oxford English--would leave a much greater mark. The task ahead was as daunting as anything, with reality quickly settling in that this accomplishment wouldn't require normal men to complete. Thankfully, the two men at the center of this story were anything but normal. The first part of this tale covers one of them--a Scotsman by the name of James Murray--who was quite possibly the most brilliant man on the entire British Isles at the time and who hadn't set foot in school since he was 14 years old. While he certainly was passionate about cataloguing the language, little did he realize where this love of language was going to take him and who he would encounter along the way.History Impossible has been made possible by the following generous supporters on Patreon and PayPal. Please consider donating today to help keep me free and this show alive.David AdamcikAlireza AtarianBenjaminElias BorotaCharles CCJCliffydeuceCRdaddygorgonRichard DaveyNathan DiehlGavin Edwardseli123kyKevin GonyNathan GroteAl HallBenjamin HamiltonPeter HauckJoseph HurstThomas JustesenMike KalninsBryn KaufmanBenjamin LeeTrevor LindborgMaddyMounty of MadnessJose MartinezMike MaylebenJudy McCoidMonicaKostas MorosRyan MortensonBen MullenSkip PachecoMolly PanJeff ParrentJean PetersBrian PritzlPJ RaderGleb RadutskyAleksandr RakitinEdward RayJon Andre SaetherAlison SaloJake ScaliaEmily SchmidtJulian SchmidtCameron SmithThomas SqueoBrian SteggemanPier-Luc St-PierrePhilipp SurkovJared Cole TempleChrisTXSteve UhlerRicky WortheyF. YouThis show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5634566/advertisement

Today on the Woody and Wilcox Show: Safe Christmas tree transportation; Trailer for new Eddie Murphy movie, You People; Ambient light is bad for you; Experts say you should walk backwards on the treadmill; Kirstie Alley has died; Oxford English dictionary's word of the year; Shopping cart prank; Joey Chesnut lost the shrimp cocktail eating contest; And so much more!

Can certain 'oil rich' clubs do anything they want? Have Chelsea shown a lack of class under Todd Boelhy? Is the Oxford English dictionary keeping up with the times? On this episode of the Straight Shootin' View our co-host SSLJA discusses Jurgen Klopp's recent comments on 'State owned' clubs who can do what they want financially, making it impossible to copete witht ehm financially and also looks at Former Chelsea straiker Didier Drogba's somewhat ironic comments saying that Chelsea have shown a lack of class under Todd Boelhy's leadership, that he felt they had under Roman Abramovich. SSLJA rounds out by looking at news that the Oxford English Dictionary will be updated to include the phrases 'Park the bus' & 'Squeaky bum time' For more information about Pitch Talk visit: Our Official Website - http://www.pitch-talk.com http://Facebook.com/pitchtalk (Become a fan & member of our Facebook group) http://Twitter.com/pitchtalk @pitchtalk https://www.instagram.com/pitchtalk/ http://Youtube.com/pitchtalk Find & Subscribe to our audio - Add us to your favourite podcast app via RSS Feed - https://anchor.fm/s/8839b7e0/podcast/rss Anchor FM - https://anchor.fm/pitchtalk Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/pitch-talk-podcast/id445883703 Google Podcasts - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL3BpdGNodGFsay9mZWVkLnhtbA Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0y9lR6WJaNLyAr7diAHhqh#upsell Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/ee0280cc-f15b-49bb-a3e2-b688e0dd49d5/Pitch-Talk-Podcast? Vurbl - https://vurbl.com/station/pitch-talk-podcast/ PlayerFM - https://player.fm/series/pitch-talk-podcast-2859976 TuneIn Radio - https://tunein.com/podcasts/Sports--Recreation-Podcasts/Pitch-Talk-Podcast-p1504891/ Gaana - https://gaana.com/podcast/pitch-talk-podcast-season-1 Mixcloud Archive (Incl. Classic podcast episodes) - https://mixcloud.com/pitchtalk/ #JurgenKlopp #ManchesterCityfc #Chesleafc #DidierDrogba #ToddBoelhy #NewcastleUnited #PSG #FFP #SheikhMansour #SaudiArabia #OxfordDictionary #PitchTalk #Podcast #PremierLeague #EFL #Vlog #EPL #ApplePodcasts #GooglePodcasts #AnchorFM #Gaana #TuneInRadio #money #football #players #coaching #soccer #GrassRootsFootball #UEFA #FA #FIFA #FootballVideos #opinion #fans #facebook #twitter #igtv #instagram #YouTube

Episode 103 - Please welcome to the podcast the talented business owner of "Oxford English" Jonny Morgan. Born in England now living in Shanghai China, he graduated in a Master of Education at Oxford University. He has taught English in Spain and China having taught students of all ages.  When I met Jonny last year he was the Academic Co-Ordinator before deciding this year to resign and focus on his new business. He provides services to Chinese students who are preparing for exams, university assessments and moving to the UK for studies. He currently has 85,000 followers on his Chinese social medias. Here we talk about the British Monarchy, the Shanghai lockdown, Roman Emperors, vinyl and his passion for Education and teaching. @jmspqr Xiaohongshu (小红书） • username: JonnyOxford • Chinese name: 莫仲贤 https://tellcraigyourstory.podbean.com https://www.linktr.ee/tellcraigyourstory @tellcraigyourstory Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcCr6P3Ja395SkapnECvOFw?view_as=subscriber #jonnymorgan #oxfordenglish #oxfordenglishyounglearners #tellcraigyourstory #rugbyunion #thenational #vinyl #themonarchy #queenelizabeth #kingcharles #greekemperors #homework #shanghailockdown #africa #argentina #bobdylan #hastingsengland #wales #scotland #oxforduniversity

Do you do your duty? What does that mean to you?    Queen Elizabeth passed this week, and it is the end of an era. The media is full of recognition for her 70 years of service and duty to the role of British Monarch. I wonder given a choice, how many of us would take on a job where there was no leaving or retirement?  Yes, the job had some perks, but I imagine they wear a bit thin after the first 20 years…    I have a deep appreciation for the Queen and her achievements. She has been a steady hand, and I am sure, a significant influence on leaders worldwide.    Her passing has allowed me to consider the word  duty and how it impacts my life and those around me.  It is a word that gets thrown around a lot in society; the Oxford English dictionary definition is DUTY: Something that you feel you have to do because it is your moral or legal responsibility. Where does duty fit into your life, and do you have expectations of others to be dutiful? All interesting questions and worth consideration.      Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life's big questions through weekly interviews with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying interested and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer     The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions Focus Coaching: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/focus-coaching/ Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/

About the author As a black child raised by five sets of white foster parents (some incredibly loving, some - not so much) I always felt that I had to prove my worth, so that I would to be 'allowed to stay.'' I had to be not only a 'good girl' but a 'good black girl'. I had no say in where I would live or who my new mum and dad would be, or where I would be living next. I was told to always be thankful, always be grateful for what I had, to never ask for more and, to never rock the boat. And now with thirty years of personal and professional development in my bones, things have changed. Professionally, I am an ICF credentialed coach with nearly a decade of ethical coaching under my belt. I work with women who want to lead value based and empowered lives.  I am a feeling person. I can be with and honour my own feelings; so I can sit with and honour your feelings. I am a person of meaningful action; so I can guide you to create meaningful action that supports you and your life. I have no agenda and I don't judge.  If you want someone to walk alongside you, as you step into your worth and begin to create the life that you want, it will be my honour and privilege to support you. Source: https://www.keminekvapil.com/aboutkemi   About the book The world does not need busy women, it needs present and powerful women. Blending inspiring stories with reflective coaching practices, POWER provides the tools to navigate the challenges that impact who we are, from discrimination and burnout to trauma and self-doubt. Reclaim your power and create a life of true joy and fulfilment. Source: https://www.keminekvapil.com/power-book  Big idea #1 – Defining Power Kemi pays careful attention to the definitions. Throughout the book, she pulls out the Oxford English dictionary and defines some words where their meaning has been attached to things that aren't their original dictionary definition.  Included in this is defining power. She talks about how power is abstract and intimidating for many women so often we need to call it other things, to feminise it, call it 'soft power' to make it more palatable. But it's time to redefine and reclaim it for what it is. Power might have always looked male, white or some other combination of traits that just aren't yours. Power might also feel associated with other words, for example, ambition. Kemi associated ambition as a less positive trait until she looked it up, and realised that ambition is not a bad thing at all. She calls for a new paradigm, starting on the inside; women believing in themselves and feeling like they belong, owning their power and supporting and coaching others to do the same. Power redefined can be used as individuals and as a collective. Importantly it is power ‘with', not power ‘over', using the Brené Brown language. Power ‘over' is what most people have experienced, hence the more negative connotations and ideas that we have about the idea of power. Like most systems, patriarchy is designed to support itself and sustain itself. So, we must dismantle it by using power differently. Big idea #2 – POWER Kemi breaks power into its own acronym. ‘Presence, ownership, wisdom, equality, and responsibility'  Presence is being aware in the moment, knowing the impact that we have and using it to connect with ourselves and with others. Ownership is the ability to integrate all parts of ourselves. Who you are, what you stand for, your experiences and the impact those have had on you and owning the story, rather than someone else's interpretation. Wisdom is our inner wisdom, trusting your gut, and knowing that we often give our power away in the language we use of stories we tell ourselves. We need to trust ourselves rather than deferring trust or deferring power to other people because that's what we've always done. Equality is the role that we have to play in shaping global equality, helping others who have less than we do, and owning our privilege. This allows us to help and shape things in a different way for others. Responsibilities - taking responsibility for our power and deciding how we're going to use it. We can use that to act or behave in a particular way that is aligned with the power that we have.   Using these principles, you'll be able to build power from the inside out. Which allows you to shift the structures around us so that more people are empowered.    Big idea #3 – Practice Makes PowerPractice makes power, or power takes practice.   Power is not something that can just be reclaimed by reading a book. It's not knowledge based. It does take work and hard conversations. It takes uncovering our preconceptions and ideas that maybe we haven't ever explored. To do all of this it takes practice, it takes boundaries, which need to be clear, communicated, and committed to do the work. This practice might cause you to realise some hard truths, but ones necessary to reclaim and redefine power and use it for collective good.Support my book habit: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/stephsbookshelfSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The reason why Depp and Heard are the tip of the ice-berg Personality DIsorder Part 2Personality disorders ie those whoes behavior is by nature consistently anti-tribal are this way due to a combination of nature  (genetics) and nuture. They can be born this way or they can be affected by trauma of different types. For borderlines and psychopaths sexual trauma is especially important. Anything that fractures or does not affirm self esteem either acutely or chronically risks going onto also affect socialisation and both together will then create an individual who's behavior purely due to who they are is tribe incompatible aka personality disorder. The specific way in which anti tribal behavior reduces internal anxiety defines the type of personality disorder.Interestingly the American Psychiatric Association talks about oversly sensitive overly reactive children  being a risk factor for developing personality disorder and I think this may refer in some cases to genetically overanxious children but more importantly , becausethis is somethign easily addressed it is referring to is ADHD. Parents often cannot cope and often dread dealing with their own children when they have ADHD and this not helped by an increasingly avoidant educational system who need to be strong armed by assertive parents who have read all the rules and guildelines into providing any useful support. The problem is that kids with ADHD are constantly chastised and scolded and have difficulty learning normal socialisation (without making serious compromises such as taking on the role of the charming misichieve maker who people are entertained by) and also get used to failure as schools often reject them or do not give them adequate learning support. Its important for parents to undersatnd they are getting angry with the ADHD not their kid . However it is the child's self esteem and self pereception that is being damaged . This is the most persuasive argument for discussing medication with parents who understandably do not want their children on tablets but equally do not want to harm the fundamental rewquirments for success in life ie self esteem and socialisation ie tribal living and how well you can do within the tribe.Recently I had to write a report for a 15 year old who had been put by one of the UK's great public schools in the North on a behavioral contract. But he had ADHD. He could not stick to it and was expelled. The school have now lost aginst the parents during formal proceedings and rightly so. The damage to self esteem was incalculable. This directly through discrimination and inderectly through neglect of duty abuse of the child. This is the case if parents and professionals do not properly manage ADHD.The commonest personaltiy disorder is Obsessive Compulsive characterised by individuals being socially awkward and often withdrawn, liable to routine and ritual and perfectionism and hard work. This is likely to be a misclassifaction or at least a duplicate classifcation for more functional Aspergers Spectrum disorder. Even more simply we are all on the emotion/autistic spectrum with females generally shifted left of centre to the more emotional end and males generally shifted right of centre towards the autistic end. The main mediator is the level of exposure to intrauterine testosterone. It means that a female with Aspergers tendencies is even more of an outlier than a male with Aspergers tendencies as the general female poplulation lies more the left than males. Indeed a right shifted narcissit female is especially toxic to the tribe often exactly because they can fly under the radar but they have most access to and responsiblity for raising chiildren and someone who is self serving and likely to be critical and controlling and unable to teach proper attachement and socilaistion to the kids is going to be very damaging to those kids. Furthermore females tend to be the social centres of tribes so a right shifting narcissist will be especially toxic to the tribe.The reason personality disorder exists at all without being selected out by natural selection is that it confers a survival advantage. In times of strife famine or war etc the tribe needs an assertive leader able to make cold calculated decisions. Such as Churchill versus Hitler or Trump versus Putin. (Biden is of course a joke and a plant by the higher powers to be manipulated in an attempted Great Reset). Current society and emphasis on careers values hard work and persistence which is a key trait in obsessive compulsive/right shirters. Also right shifters are more resistant to trauma as they lack the normal emotioanl responses. They are able to pragmatically accept what has happened but their main distress is with the consequences and change in routine caused by the trauma . Hence my suggestion is that you will find a high proprotion of right shifters among refugees as the right shifters were able to remain functional enough to leave their coutnry whereas those closer to the population mean were overcome by stress and so less functional and less albe to leave and seek safety.Society is changing infront of our eyes. Unregulated capitalism  and materialism and the destruction of religion morals and ethics and national identities combined with globalisation leading to different cultures being forced into close juxtaposition to one another is leading to increases stress and unhappiness especially in the West which is leading the way in this. Unfortunatley the digital age which selects for binary thinking right shifters who are especially suited to softtware programming  has resulted in narcisistic binary thinkers becoming the richest men in the World. The consequence of having intelligent binary thinking narcissists in charge is that they will in the blink of an eye (ie reflexly -hence the personality disorder nature) justify subjugation of the unhappy strife riven population with biometric passports and ultimately computer chipping in a bastardised biblical simile of God creating Man in his image. You will own nothing and be happy is the mantra of the Great Reset.Since peronalit disorder causes suffering to the indvidual and those around them through being antirbal then the defining criteria are relative to the tribe. If we are all turned into subjugated robotic compliers then those seeking collaborative warm human contact would be considered the anti tribal personality disorders as they would be damaging to the binary thinking tribe. You think this is unlikely? Think again. How about those speaking the truth about COVID and vaccines being cancelled and revilled and subjgated by the media as well as the law? Now we know it was mostly lies and vested interest of large pharma and govenerments defining policy by public opinion which was manipualted by mass media and those controoling them. For instance BIll Gates controls the WHO and has interests in Pfizer and the same entity controlling Pfizer also controlls Thomson Reuters the golbal fact checker which was used by Twitter. The end of society as we know it is happening infront of our eyes.How are personality disorders treated? Since they are not ill there is no treatment. However some may have the insgiht that if they want to benefit from what society has to offer then they have try and act agaisnt their nature and integrate more functionally. There exist therapeutic communities who mainly follow the method of putting these people on behavioral contracts exactly because they are responblle for themselves. So if they break the rules such as being voilent or self harming or generally being antitribal they are punished by being excluded from the community for a time or discharged alltogether. Some have come to me stressed by the pressure of society for them to be nicer ie less psychopathic or less narcissistic. Basically they are stressed as no one likes them so they are lonely and running out of victims or work is suffering and they want things to go better. My answer is dont try and act against your nature. It causes stress. Be yourself. Be a psychopath openly .It means that people can engage with you on fair terms. They then know what they are dealing with and are less likely to be damaged. Look at Boris Johsnons multiple relationships and multiple children. Look at his superficial charm yet talk to his ex wife and she is excoriating of him. Close prolonged contact with personality disorder can be devasting as they are entirely self serving and therefore destructive .Indeed the Oxford English dictionary defines ''Evil'' as something wicked and amoral. If you look at amoral it means not moral. If you look up moral it means knowing the difference between good and bad and doing good. If you look up wicked it says something unpleasnat eg an unpleasant wind or something harmful. Therefore by definition in the two golbal classificaiton systems which state personaltiy disroder causes suffering to the individual and those around them lifelong then by their nature they are evil.How does one respond to a personality disorder? Three ways. The first two require knowledge of the spefic antitribal mechanism they are using ie are they a psychopath, are they a narcisist , or a binary thinking micro controller? Are they an insecure attachment seeking borderline ? Ie you have to know the currency of their internal peace. Then you apply fear of losing that currency or reward with that currency.  The problem is that in order to that consistently and not be stressed in so doing it has to be in your nature it is not for most of us and generally not in the nature of victims seeking advice on how to deal with a personality disroder then fhe first two options are not practical which leaves the 3rd option of geographical separation.Returning to Depp and Heard. How many witnesses did Depp have give evidence for him? Many. How man did Heard have ? None apart from her sister who clearly was a genetic close match to Heard .

From a rogue radio operator, to Bugs Bunny, to the lady who recorded all the time and temperature message for the phone company, we look at some history and notable names in voicework (which is what I do for a living, hire me!)  Like what you hear?  Become a patron of the arts for as little as $2 a month!   Or buy the book or some merch.  Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs.  Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter,  or Instagram. Music: Kevin MacLeod, David Fesliyan.   Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Links to all the research resources are on the website.   If you logged onto the internet between say ‘95-2005, you'd inevitably hear two things, the shriek of a modem, like a robot orgy in a combine harvester, and a cheery man's voice saying, “Welcome” and “You've got mail.”  Elward Edwards recorded those phrases for $200 in 1989, when his wife worked for Quantum Computer Services, the company that later became AOL. At its peak, AOL had 23 million users, all hearing Edwards' voice.  He briefly returned to public attention when a video of him saying the iconic line was posted on social media, by one of his Uber passengers.  My name's …   Every topic I cover on YBOF is interesting to me, anywhere from a little ‘huh' to an all-consuming passion that dictates everything from my daily schedule to my podcast listening.  This is one of those, because I do voiceovers for a living.  Hire me today, no job too small.  With a chronic idiopathic pulmonary condition, covid provided a real kick in the pants to finally get out of retail.  What I discovered, apart from how it's not as easy as you think, or at least as easy as I thought with two years of podcasting already under my belt, is that VO is everywhere!  It's not just cartoons and dubbing movies.  Phone menus, kids toys, GPS, pre-roll ads on YT, website explainer videos, e-learning/training, continuing education, audiobooks, podcasts of course, guided meditations, seriously we could be here all day.  Even computerized voices usually start with a real person, more on that later.   Kids these days may not hear a voice that was unbelievably common in the lives of many of us.  [sfx “At the tone, the time will be 7:22 and 40 seconds,” “I'm sorry, the number you have dialed is no longer in service”]  That's the authoritative voice of Jane Barbe, one of the most widely-heard voices ever.  Barbe was the queen of telephone recordings, estimated to have been heard 40 million times a day in the 1980s and early 1990s, everything from automated time and weather messages to hotel wake-up calls.  She wasn't the only person who recorded automated phone messages, but she practically had the market cornered.    Barbe did most of her recordings for Atlanta-based Electronic Telecommunications Inc., which at one time produced as many as 2,000 voice messaging systems for businesses and government agencies, and for Octel Communications, which is now a part of Bell Labs/Lucent.  She was heard on 90% of “intercept messages” -- the recording played when something is wrong with a phone number -- and 60% of automated time and temperature calling programs.  You see, children, before you had the exact time and the collective knowledge of humanity to take to the toilet with you, you might go to the nearest telephone and dial a number you had committed to memory, probably the wildest part of this story, so a recording could tell you the time and temperature.   While I still haven't encountered my own voice in the wild, which was especially disappointing after I voiced a local political ad, Jane Barbe misdialed her calls as much as the rest of us, an experience she described as “really weird.”  One time she overheard her mother dialing a number and getting her on a recorded message.  ‘Oh, shut up, Jane!' her mom groused before slamming down the receiver in exasperation.   The story of how our go-go tech-driven lives became infused with voiceovers well predates YT and phone menus.  We have to go back over a century, to the night of Christmas eve 1906.  Up to that moment, the ship wireless operators for the United Fruit Company, along with the US Navy, had only heard Morse codes coming through their headphones.  But suddenly, they heard a human voice singing “O Holy Night” with violin accompaniment and afterwards a reading from the Bible.  This was heard by ships along the Atlantic northeast coast and from shore stations as far south as Norfolk, Virginia.  A repeat broadcast was heard on New Year's Eve as far south as the West Indies.  The voice was that of Canadian inventor and mathematician Reginald Fessenden, who was responsible for establishing the first transatlantic wireless telegraphic communication and what is considered to be the first voice work.  Fessneden was excited by Alexander Graham Bell's new device, the telephone, and set out to create a way to remotely communicate without wires.  In 1900, working for the United States Weather Bureau, Fessenden recorded the very first voice over: a test he made reporting the weather.  The following year, Guglielmo Marconi, who is often credited as the father and inventor of the radio became the first person to transmit signals across the Atlantic Ocean.   Though wireless communication was invaluable in WWI, broadcasts to the public were largely regional, amateur affairs.  The first radio news program was broadcast August 31, 1920 by station 8MK in Detroit, Michigan, which survives today as all-news CBS station.  The first college radio station began broadcasting two months later from Union College, Schenectady, New York.  Around the same time, station 2ADD (call letters were weird in the beginning), aired what is believed to be the first public entertainment broadcast in the United States, a series of Thursday night concerts that could initially only be heard within a 100-mile (160 km) radius and later for a 1,000-mile (1,600 km) radius. It wasn't much, but it was the start of broadcast voice work.   The average person knows off-hand that the first movie with diegetic, or native, sound was The Jazz Singer in 1927, but the biggest event in voice work came the following year -- the first talkie cartoon.  It was Steamboat Willie, with the prototype for Mickey Mouse voiced by none other than creator Walt Disney.  Hot on its heels came next year's Looney Tunes the following year.  And that's t-u-n-e-s like music, not t-o-o-n-s like cartoon.   In the early days of animation, Disney produced short animated films called “Silly Symphonies,” to promote and sell music, in the form of records and sheet music.  As Silly Symphonies gained popularity, Warner Brothers created its own equivalents, “Merrie Melodies”“Looney Tunes.” As for the “looney” part of the title, Warner Brothers wanted to indicate that “[their] cartoons were a little wackier than the sweeter characters of Disney.”  Cartoons quickly solidified their place as entertainment for children and adults alike.   One man in particular made Looney Tunes a powerhouse, “the man of a thousand voices” - Mel Blanc.  He is considered to be the first outstanding voice actor in the industry and voiced Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, Yosemite Sam, the Tasmanian Devil, Marvin the Martian, Pepé Le Pew, Speedy Gonzales, and many others.  Raised in Portland, Oregon, he worked at KGW as an announcer and as one of the Hoot Owls in the mid-1930s, where he specialized in comic voices. It took him a year and a half to land an audition with Leon Schlesinger's company, where he began in 1937. He also worked for Walter Lantz, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Columbia, and even Walt Disney until Schlesinger signed him to an exclusive contract.   One of Mel Blanc's most important contributions to the voice over industry is the recognition that voice artists now get to enjoy. Originally, voice artists were not given screen credit on animated cartoons. After he was turned down for a raise by tight-fisted producer Leon Schlesinger, Blanc suggested they add his name as Vocal Characterizationist to the credits as a compromise. Not only did it give a greater recognition to voice artists but also from then on, it helped to bring Blanc to the public eye and quickly brought him more work in radio.   We almost didn't have as much Mel Blanc voice-work as we did.  On January 24th, 1961, Blanc was in a near-fatal car accident on Sunset Boulevard.  He suffered multiple fracture to both legs and his pelvis, as well as triple skull bone displacements.  He lay in a coma, unresponsive, for two weeks.  After many doctors' attempts to bring him out of the deep unconsciousness, one of his neurologists tried a different approach and asked Blanc, “How are you feeling today, Bugs Bunny?”  After a moment, in a low voice, he replied, “Eh… just fine, Doc. What's up?”  The doctor then asked if Tweety was in there too, to which Blanc replied: “I tot I taw a puddy tat.”  Mel Blanc recovered shortly after and continued to do what he did best, until his death at age 81.  His tombstone in Hollywood Forever Cemetery reads “That's all, folks.”   Bonus fact: Bugs Bunny's habit of eating carrots while delivering one-liners was based on a scene in the film It Happened One Night, in which Clark Gable's character leans against a fence, eating carrots rapidly and talking with his mouth full to Claudette Colbert's character.  The trouble was, Mel Blanc didn't like carrots.  He would bite and chew the carrots to get the sound needed and immediately spit it out.   MIDROLL   Hopping back to Disney, the house of mouse also pioneered the full-length animated feature, to much soon-to-be-disproven skepticism and derision, with Snow White in 1937.  Adriana Caselotti was the daughter of Italian immigrants living in Connecticut.  Both her mother and older sister sang opera and her father gave voice lessons, so making best use of one's voice was sort of their thing.  After a brief stint as a chorus girl, when she was only 18, Caselotti was hired to provide the voice of Snow White.  She was paid $970, equivalent to $17K today, typical for the non-union times.  In most Hollywood stories, this would be step one of a meteoric rise.  The movie was certainly a success, even briefly hold the title of highest grossing sound film, so why isn't Adriana Caselotti a household name?  All my research indicates that Disney did it on purpose.  Caselotti was under contract with Disney, so she couldn't work for other studios, but Disney never provided her with any other roles.  Even radio and TV legend Jack Benny was turned away, with the explanation, “That voice can't be used anywhere.  I don't want to spoil the illusion of Snow White.”  It's the same reason Disney didn't credit voice actors for the first six years of feature films; he didn't want anything to remind the buying public that the characters are just make-believe.  Caselotti's only other cinematic contribution, for which she was paid $100, was to sing the falsetto line "Wherefore Art Thou, Romeo", in the Tin Man's song in The Wizard of Oz.  She was a lovely girl; you can see pictures of her if you're listening to the show on the Vodacast app.   I've actually got a few bullet points on the dark secrets behind the happiest place on earth.  There's enough to fill a movie.  I can see the trailer now.  “In a world…”  I can't do the voice.  Only one man could, the epic movie trailer guy, Don LaFontaine.  Donald LaFontaine was called, “The King,” "Thunder Throat" and "The Voice of God."  His CV includes 5,000 movie trailers and over 350,000 television commercials, network promotions, and video game trailers.  His signature phrase, "in a world...", is so well known and parodied, LaFontaine parodied it himself in a Geico ad. [sfx]   LaFontaine was born in 1940 in Duluth, Minnesota. to Alfred and Ruby LaFontaine.  At age 13, his voice changed, all at once, mid-sentence, and never went back.  He began his career as a recording engineer at the National Recording Studios producing commercial spots for Dr. Strangelove: Or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb.  LaFontaine worked behind the mic until 1964, when he had to fill in for a missing voice actor to finish a promo spot for 1964's Gunfighters of Casa Grande for a client's presentation.  The client bought the spots, and LaFontaine's career as a voice actor began.  LaFontaine developed his signature style of a strong narrative approach, and heavy melodramatic coloration of his voice work.  In 1976 LaFontaine started his own company producing movie trailers.  He moved to Los Angeles in 1981 and was contacted by an agent, launching a career that spanned three decades.  LaFontaine's signature voice came with a busy schedule.  He could have voiced about 60 promotions a week, sometimes more than 3 in a single day.  Most studios were willing to pay a premium for his service.  It has been said that his voice-over added prestige and excitement, a certain gravitas, to what might otherwise have been a box office failure.    In a 2007 interview, LaFontaine explained the strategy behind his signature catch phrase, "in a world where...": "We have to very rapidly establish the world we are transporting them to. That's very easily done by saying, `In a world where ... violence rules.' `In a world where ... men are slaves and women are the conquerors.' You very rapidly set the scene."  Wait, what movie wa that second one?  LaFontaine became so successful that he arrived at his voice-over jobs in a personalized limo with a full time driver, until he began recording from his palatial estate in the Hollywood Hills, thanks to the internet and ISDN.  It's hardly worth talking about ISDN as a voiceover today, as it's rapidly on its way out, but as a podcaster, I'm happy to.  ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) is a system of digital telephone connections, which enables recording studios anywhere in the United States, Canada and abroad to connect digitally with voice over talent working remotely in their home recording studio.  It's as clear as being in the same room.  It makes a Zoom call look like two Solo cups and an old shoelace.  But nobody's having a dedicated ISDN line installed these days.  It costs at least $1500 for the unit, plus anywhere from $75 to a few hundred dollars per month for the service, so [sfx raspberry] onto the rubbish heap of rapidly-outdated technology it goes!   LaFontaine died suddenly in 2008 and  now all we're left with is the Inception noise. [sfx]  I mean, it was cool at first, but now … meh.  You can also hear shades of LaFontaine in the work of a Barbadian-British VO known professionally as Redd Pepper.  His legal name is on wikipedia, but I don't like when mine comes up, so I won't use his.  (Also, if you find out someone goes by a name other than the one on their passport, just leave it, will you?  Be they trans, an actor, an exotic dancer, or a check-out girl, don't matter.  You don't need to know what my “real name” is unless you're writing me a check.)  Anyway, Pepper has voiced over 100 trailers, including blockbusters like Jurassic Park, Men in Black and Space Jam, so you've probably heard him, even if you thought he was the old “in a world” guy.  Here's LaFontaine [sfx] and here's Pepper [sfx].   Speaking of signature sounds, if you've ever heard old movies or newsreels from the thirties or forties, then you've probably heard that weird old-timey voice.  It sounds a little like a blend between American English and a form of British English.  Did everyone talk that way between the world wars?  Not everyone, no, only the people being recorded and they did it on purpose.   This type of pronunciation is called the Transatlantic, or Mid-Atlantic, accent.  Not mid-Atlantic like Virginia and Maryland, but like in the middle of the Atlantic.  Unlike most accents, instead of naturally evolving, the Transatlantic accent was acquired.  People in the United States were taught to speak in this voice.  Historically, Transatlantic speech was the hallmark of American aristocracy and by extension the theatre.  In upper-class boarding schools across New England, students learned the Transatlantic accent as an international norm for communication, similar to the way posh British society used Received Pronunciation, which we'll get to in a minute.  Mid-Atlantic English was the dominant dialect among the Northeastern American upper class through the first half of the 20th century. As such, it was popular in the theatre and other forms of elite culture in that region….   Transatlantic has several quasi-British elements, such a lack of rhoticity.  This means that Mid-Atlantic speakers dropped their “r's” at the end of words like “winner” or “clear”.  They'll also use softer, British vowels – dahnce, fahst.  While those sounds were reduce, emphasis was put on t's.  In American English we often pronounce the “t” in words like “writer” and “water” as d's. Transatlantic speakers pounce on their T's, writer, water.     This speech pattern isn't completely British, nor completely American.  Instead, it's a form of English that's hard to place and that's part of why Hollywood loved it.  With the evolution of talkies in the late 1920s, voice was first heard in motion pictures.  It was then that the majority of audiences first heard Hollywood actors speaking predominantly in Mid-Atlantic English.  But why do so many speakers have such a high, nasal quality?  There's a theory that technological constraints, combined with the schooled accent, created this iconic speech.  According to Duke university professor Jay O'Berski, this sound is an artifact from the early days of radio.  Radio receivers had very little bass technology at the time, and it was very difficult, if not impossible, to hear bass tones on your home device.  Speakers with pleasing full baritones were no good on early radio.    The Transatlantic accent made Americans sound vaguely British, but how can you make British people sound more British, like, the maximum amount of Britishness, like a cup of earl grey tea served with a dry scone smeared with marmalade and imperialism.  You teach them Received Pronunciation.  Received Pronunciation, or RP, is the instantly recognisable super-British accent often described as The Queen's English', ‘Oxford English' or ‘BBC English.'  RP is described as “the standard form of British English pronunciation,” though only 2% or so of Brits speak it.   So where did Transatlantic pronunciation go?  Linguist William Labov noted that Mid-Atlantic speech fell out of favor after World War II, as fewer teachers taught it to their students and radio and movie sound technology evolved to handle bass.  It's not gone entirely, though.  British expats like Anthony Hopkins still use it and it pops up in place of actors' natural British accents in movies.  The example that leaps to my mind is Warwick Davis.  You also know him as The Leprechaun, Professor Fliwick in Harry Potter, among 80 other roles.  For his first major film role as the titular Willow in 1988, he was taught the Transatlantic accent because the studio heads thought that Americans wouldn't be able to understand his British accent.  *sigh*  I could probably do a whole episode on executives thinking the average person was sub-moronic.  Did you ever once have a problem with Warwick Davis' accent, or anything less clear than Brad Pitt in Snatch?  Pop on to our social media…

Luke 2:18–19[18] And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. [19] But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.Pondering, according to the Oxford English dictionary… “In the sense most relevant to its scriptural use, ponder means to think or reflect deeply, or to meditate.”MEDITATE ON THIS-If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are adopted and are RELATED to the King of Kings, Lord of Lords and are a heir to the throne. 

Go ahead and hit us up on Twitter @patch_seoulWe'd love to hear from you. We're open for episode suggestions!In this week's episode, the guys discuss several Korean words that have recently made it into the Oxford English dictionary. They talk about the ways English is used in Korean and how some words have retained their meanings while others have not. It's a metalinguistic good time at The Patch, so why don't you join the party!Intro/Outro Music: Eaters, song Tuck's Love Party (eatersmusic2000) https://freemusicarchive.org/music/eaters/an-evening-with-tuck-pendleton/tucks-love-partyEmail: theseoulpatch@gmail.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/theseoulpatchpodcast/Twitter: https://twitter.com/patch_seoulWebsite: http://theseoulpatch.com

AI capabilities range from providing on-the-ground safety for US soldiers, to removing the time delay of the Mars drone. But what misconceptions are there about Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning? Join as Carolyn and Mark welcome Willie Hicks Public Sector CTO at Dynatrace on to debunk myths and confirm beliefs about the power of AI. Episode Table of Contents[00:41] Willie Unpacks What AI Is [09:22] What AI Is in the Medical Field [16:44] When AI Starts to Become Practical [23:38] Staying in the Vein of What AI Is Episode Links and Resources Willie Unpacks What AI IsCarolyn: Today, we get to talk to https://www.linkedin.com/in/williehicksee/ (Willie Hicks), CTO of Dynatrace public sector, on the very hot topic of artificial intelligence. Willie is going to unpack what AI really is and isn't. Apparently, I will not be having an in home version of Star Trek's Data to do light chores anytime soon, spoiler alert. But we also get into the nuances of AI versus ML, how the government is developing and using AI. Willie is going to tackle the recent National Security Commission on artificial intelligence final reports. He's going to share his biggest takeaways from the 800-page report. That's going to save us from actually having to read anything. Finally, we're going to discuss how he has seen the industry and the government partner in AI, the wins, the losses, and how we can do better. I want to go straight to our topic of the day and just have you level set us on AI. Define what we're talking about here. Willie: When I think about and talk to people about AI, often I get the question, "What is AI?" We can talk about it from the strict definition of AI, if you wanted me to rattle off the Oxford English dictionary version of it. It is a theory in the development of computer systems that can perform tasks. These are normal tasks that humans would do, so it's artificial intelligence. But in reality, AI is more than that definition.A Task-Oriented Type of AIWillie: Most people have heard or directly experienced AI in one fashion or another, and they don't even realize it. Every time you call into Amazon or some company to chat about a product that didn't arrive, or you're calling to pay a bill, you'll get an automated chatbot or an automated service. A lot of times, it asks you to speak to it, in a natural language. It is processing that information and giving you back some type of feedback. That's a very task-oriented type AI that you're interacting with. We actually interact with AI all the time, and that's growing day in and day out. If you've got devices, smart speakers in your home, you're interacting with a type of AI. Or if you are using a lot of systems today on computers that are trying to keep you from gaming the system, like they're getting a lot more complex. The CAPTCHAs and things like that are getting more complex to try to understand when other bots are trying to get into the system. All of these types of systems are some types of AI. Now, we'll get into this later. There are different types of AI. There's what you were just talking about, Data. I would love to have Data in my house, or Jarvis. Not Skynet, but one of those AIs that has a more general purpose that doesn't exist. Those types of AI don't exist today, except in science fiction. Carolyn: At all? Willie: Not really, at least not that we know of. If they're in a secret lab somewhere, we don't know about it. How People Misuse What AI IsMark: They probably do at Bill Gates' house. It seems like the use of the term AI is all over the place. Everybody uses it pretty ubiquitously, but it means so many different things based on the description that you just laid out. Literally, the spectrum is massive. But people use the term, it sounds like artificial intelligence to mean just about any of that. Willie: Also, they misuse terms a lot of times too. Some people say machine learning is AI. A lot of sci-fi and a lot of what we see on TV...

................................. FULL TRANSCRIPT ................................. Hi, I'm Pascale Gibon and welcome to episode 214 of The Everyday Life Balance Show. You are listening to this episode because you are frustrated with not being on purpose in your life.  Increasingly people awaken to their need to live a more purposeful life that gives more meaning to their life.  When you do not live a purposeful life, you do not live up to your full potential. You wonder why you wake up in the morning. You have no sense of fulfilment because you are far from the path that is right for you. I believe there are various definitions and dimensions to being on purpose. The Oxford English dictionary defines purpose as an object to be attained, a thing intended.  In other words, it is a goal you move towards with intent or the intention to act. I have good news for you. Being on purpose does not need to be complicated. The most simplistic way of being on purpose is to follow your deepest desires, your passions, for example. Therefore, to be on purpose, you need to do more things that ignite your passions, light up your fire and fuel your joy. When you don't follow your passions and give up, you live a life of regrets and if only. For me, being on purpose means that I follow the joy of my soul. In other words, when you follow the joy of your soul: You are true to your heart's deepest desires. You are in tune with what is most important to you in life and the role you are willing to play. One of my mentors says that: “You do not find your life's purpose. You discover it.” I believe that as you commit to personal growth, your life's purpose changes.  There are ways to refine your life's purpose depending on how big a role you wish to play in the world. When you want to transform and enhance other people's lives on a large scale, your life's purpose becomes a calling or a deep desire to self-realize. Because you want to live a purposeful life, perhaps you have discovered your calling or highest ideal. Here is my calling, for example: to bring you to happiness with love and joy in the context of understanding and compassion. These are the values I stand for and choose to align with. However, if you feel you need some help with clarifying and refining your life's purpose because you want to transform the world positively, here are my best tips: #1: Clarify your values What are your most important values? What are the values you have chosen to lead your life? Is it freedom, happiness, love, laughter etc.? #2: Clarify what you stand for in life? What is it that you stand for? If you know my story, living a purposeful life and a deeper and more fulfilling life is what I stand for wholeheartedly. What about you? What are you willing to fight for in this lifetime? #3: Clarify what you want to bring to the world from your deepest core What kind of world would you like to live in? What do you want to see happening in the world? What do you feel compelled to change positively in the world? #4: Clarify your WHY Why do you want to live your life's purpose? What does it mean to you? #5: What would happen if you didn't live your life's purpose?  This last question, what would happen if you didn't live your life's purpose, gives you a sense of urgency to get going now. These five tips I have just shared intend to encourage you to live your life's purpose today for a deeper, fulfilling life. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. As always, remember now is your time to transform your life one step at a time. Remember that when you ask powerful questions, you can transform the quality of your life. Therefore take the time to clarify and refine your life's purpose if this is the path you have chosen. Here is a recap of my five tips to do so: Tip #1: Clarify your values Tip #2: Clarify what you stand for in life Tip #3: Clarify what you want to bring to the world from your deepest core Tip #4: Clarify your WHY Tip #5: What would happen if you didn't live your life's purpose?  Are you passionate about living a purposeful life? If so, click here to get immediate to The Purposeful Life Checklist - 21 Signs That You Are Living A Purposeful Life. ………………………. ADDITIONAL FREE RESOURCES ………………………. Love this? Join the private group 'Awaken Your Authentic Self Community' on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/awakenyourauthenticselfcommunity Do you want to live an abundant life? If you answer Yes! Click here to claim now your FREE guide:  Yes! To Love Success Habits: 7 Steps To Inner Peace, Joy And Happiness. Watch now the three-part video training: "7 Key Principles To Achieve Your Dreams." Click here to get immediate access: Listen to The Everyday Life Balance Show on Apple iTunes: http://bit.ly/id1247430885 Listen to the Everyday Life Balance Show on Stitcher: http://bit.ly/ELBStitcher Listen to the Everyday Life Balance Show on Google Play: http://bit.ly/ElBSGoogle Listen to The Everyday Life Balance Show on Soundcloud:  https://bit.ly/ELBShowCloud Listen to The Everyday Life Balance Show on Amazon: http://bit.ly/EDLBShow ………………………………….. CONNECT WITH PASCALE ………………………………….. http://www.pascalegibon.com https://facebook.com/pascalegibonfanpage https://www.linkedin.com/in/pascalegibon https://www.instagram.com/pascalegibon https://www.twitter.com/pascalegibon ……………………... ABOUT PASCALE ……………………... Pascale Gibon is the #1 Bestselling author of YES! TO Love – The Ultimate Guide to Personal Transformation for Everyday Life Balance and The Essential Guide To Success Checklist - The 30 Day Challenge to Build Your Path to Success and Fulfil Your Life's Purpose. Pascale is also the founder of YES! TO Love Academy (her live events) and YES! TO Training (or Y.T.T. YES! to True Transformation) your portal for personal transformation which helps you stand back up so that you can regain your zest for life, make your life work for you and quantum leap every aspect of your life from the inside out.  The results are more joy, real happiness and success as you increase your self-expression, self-love, self-confidence, and you feel empowered. Known as a 'Change Catalyst' for your growth, transformation, and success Pascale is highly intuitive. She has the particular talent of helping you walk 100% in your greatness with confidence and harness your unique divine gifts and abilities so that you can live your life to your fullest potential and be the best that you can be with the energy of love. As a visionary and creative, her life's purpose is to inspire and empower you and guide you to happiness through love and joy in the context of understanding and compassion. Meet Pascale at pascalegibon.com. ……………………………………………………………... ABOUT THE EVERYDAY LIFE BALANCE SHOW ……………………………………………………………... The Everyday Life Balance Show is a weekly self-help show for individuals who want to create more balance and harmony in their life on a mental, physical and spiritual level. Every Monday, you get access to insights, practical tools and strategies from experts in their field of wellness, personal development, life fulfilment, happiness and success and from your host Pascale Gibon. "Now is your time to transform your life one step at a time!" ……………….. SUBSCRIBE! ……………….. Subscribe to Pascale's YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/pascalegibon Subscribe for Pascale's iTunes podcast: http://bit.ly/id1247430885 Read Pascale's latest articles and receive inspirational, transformational and motivational content:pascalegibon.com.

1 Cor 8:7 HCSB "However, not everyone has this knowledge. In fact, some have been so used to idolatry up until now that when they eat food offered to an idol, their conscience, being weak, is defiled". What is idolatry? The Oxford English dictionary defines the word as an excessive admiration of somebody or something. It also calls it the worship of idols. When we mention the word idols, our first thoughts go to hand made gods people bow down to but the world has evolved. People hardly make hand made wooden idols and bow down. As such, idols have become more inherent in the minds of men. Idols have become money, fame, popularity, power, influence, ambition, and lust. Idols have become more than craved wooden images that can easily be broken to engraved artifacts scripted into the hearts of mankind to deter his relationship with God. These newly formed idols are obviously not physically, hence, dropping them to worship another would require a higher authority. Since the birth of every man, the bible says we have been born with iniquity. Therefore, these idols are somewhat mixed with the nature of the old man until we are regenerated into the new man. Apparently, like any habit, these idols which have been accorded the honour of being a necessity, have been difficult to let go of. So, with these idols inherent in man, prevailing changes in the world are easily accepted. The abnormal becomes the normal and of course the wise becomes the foolish. Hmmmm. It is time to submit to God for the cleansing of our minds -Romans 12:1-2. It is time to STICK TO WHO GOD IS without waiver. It is time to build up our most holy faith beyond the physical because when it is time for these idols to revolt much higher, not even our strength can stand. Hence, our beckoning when it comes to seeking God should be to be changed. Transformed. Revived. Built. Ignited. That way we can stand the test of time when all the normals have become abnormal and the abnormals have become normal. Our clamour when we seek God should be to help us love relentless, learn the fruits of the Spirit, to be meek and lowly, and hate iniquity. On this week's episode, we talked about STICKING TO WHO GOD IS. It takes knowing God to stick to who he is. So it's a journey to knowing God. I trust that God will help us.

Today I'm discussing a listener question- what does it mean to be in shape? What does be in shape mean? When I did a quick Google search here is what came up from the Oxford English dictionary. In good physical condition. To play this game well you need to be in shape. Perceptions about what we think  when we say we are in shape -You have to be an athlete -Being in shape means you're in a smaller body frame -Your age plays a large factor of how in shape you can be  -We can do x amount of pushups in a minute, we can hold a 10 minute plank, or do a pull-up and run a 6 minute mile Where to connect with Andrea Website: https://andreaclaassen.com/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/seasonallivingmamas Freebie: 5 Day Ayurvedic Challenge- https://andreaclaassen.com/5-day-ayurvedic-challenge Andrea Claassen Bio Andrea Claassen is an Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor, Personal Trainer, Yoga Teacher, and Wild Woman Project Circle leader. Her mission is to help women slow down, tune in, and connect to your divine body wisdom. She does this by teaching her Peaceful Power Practices centered around movement, mindfulness & mother nature through an Ayurvedic lens. You can hear more from Andrea on her Peaceful Power Podcast where she aims to deliver actionable takeaways to live a more holistic lifestyle. To learn more about Andrea and her holistic outlook on life head over to www.andreaclaassen.com

Today Jon and Gideon discuss the RP accent. That's the standard British accent and probably the one you're learning if you're studying British English. What does it mean? Who speaks it? And what's the difference between this and Oxford English or The Queens' English or BBC English. All will be revealed.

The Hindi word 'Aatmanirbharta' was recently added to the Oxford English dictionary with its meaning in English. But the word has huge political and emotional baggage as well. Former IAS officers, the wife-and-husband duo, Loveleen Kacker and Mukesh Kacker discuss the nuances of aatmanirbharata in the 9th episode of Cineink podcast series 'Loveleen-Mukesh: Baat Niklegi Tau Phir Door Talak Jaayegi'."Aatmanirbharata is a powerful concept which resonates with citizens and stirs feelings of national pride. But what does it mean in real terms?" ask Loveleen and Mukesh.

Hi there, I'm Harry from www.englishlessonviaskype.com and welcome to my English learning podcast where I help you improve your English speaking, listening, pronunciation and grammar.In this podcast episode, you're going to learn trendy new words in English. These words have only recently appeared in the Oxford English dictionary. Learn new English words and find out if you are a freegan. Or do you like to go on a staycation? Improve your English vocabulary and start speaking like a native. https://www.englishlessonviaskype.com/easy-peasy-english-club - Learn advanced English with me. Improve English from intermediate to advanced in my advanced English learning course.https://www.englishlessonviaskype.com/online-learning-courses/ - quality online English courses to help you improve your English speaking skills, grammar and get your English confidence. From €7.99Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/englishlessons)

Am Anfang stand eine Idee. Sven wollte sein Englisch verbessern. Zu diesem Zweck kontaktierte er Richard, der Muttersprachler der englischen Sprache ist. Einmal pro Woche telefonieren nun diese beiden jungen Männer, um sich auf Englisch über verschiedene Situationen des beruflichen und privaten Alltags zu unterhalten. Profitiere von diesem Gesprächen und falls es Bereiche gibt, die du vermisst, dann schreibe gerne einen Kommentar. Weiterführende Informationen und Trainingsmaterial findest du unter: https://speedlearning.academy Everything started with had an idea ... Sven wanted to improve his English. Therefore he contacted Richard who is a native speaker of English. Once per week these two young men talk at the phone and discuss different situations of business- and everyday life in English. Be part of this conversation and feel free to comment if there is any situation you want to be covered. For more information visit our website: https://speedlearning.academy

In 2013 a new word was added to the Oxford English dictionary. It was the word selfie. Most of us have posted them all over social media. This word is so familiar and entrenched in our day to day life that we have trouble remembering what life was like before social media. Think about what a selfie really is: a picture, perfectly crafted to present the very best image of ourselves. We control the lighting and our expression. We can delete the image if the smile is wrong, hold the camera a little higher to make our eyes appear larger or add a filter to cover our imperfections. These pictures are way more than a self-portrait. They are a declaration of how we want others to see us and the ultimate publicity campaign for ourselves. When posted on social media, selfies translate into “likes” and “comments” and provide instant confirmation that we are accepted.I recently read about Dr. Levi Harrison, a San Francisco based physician is warning people about taking too many selfies. He is diagnosing patients with what he calls, “selfie-wrist”, a form of carpal tunnel syndrome. It's a tingling, sharp pain which comes from flexing your wrist inward or by holding your phone too long.A 2018 study discovered that in the past six years there have been 259 deaths associated with taking a selfie. In front of a train, on a cliff, near a wild animal, even in front of a tornado.We live in a selfie culture. It's estimated that 1,000 selfies are posted on Instagram every second.  One definition said, “A selfie is an unrealistic depiction of ourself, a planned representation of what we want to look like. It's a polished image. There's nothing wrong with taking a selfie, and I'm not here today to tell us all to stop posting them I have something much more important to talk about. I believe our obsession with selfies can be linked to a spiritual problem. The struggle for our identity. It is the tension of who we are and who we want to be.Our world is facing an identity crisis. The deep cry of this generation is “Who am I?”  This longing and this confusion over identity fuels the need to be noticed which produces many of the selfies posted today.For the Christian, identity shouldn't be an issue. The Bible makes it very clear. We have been created in the image of God. Jesus paid for my sins on the cross, verifying my worth to God. The Bible says I have been called, chosen, accepted, forgiven, and redeemed. I am a child of God and my name is written in Heaven.“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)So, why do we struggle so much with identity? We struggle because:Identity gives us a sense of securityWe crave the approval and affirmation of other people…so we pretendWe are afraid of rejection so we attempt to meet social expectationsWe allow others to define us.So, if you are a follower of Christ, let me tell you what God's Word says about your true identity.You are a child of God - John 1:12You are a new creation in Christ - 2 Corinthians 5:17You are God's workmanship - Ephesians 2:10You are a friend of God - John 15:15You are a citizen of Heaven - Philippians 3:20You are a member of Christ's body - 1 Corinthians 12:27You are more than a conqueror - Romans 8:32Today's Challenge: Let's reject the labels our culture attempts to put on us. Let's rest in the security of knowing who we are in Christ. Let's find contentment in the love of God and believe he has accepted us as his children.

We're continuing our Interviewing at Oxford series with an episode all about interviewing for English language and literature! Join our guest Abbie and host Junaid and find out what interviewing for English at Oxford is like, from unseen poetry analysis, to the types of questions asked and - as always - some top advice for any prospective students! With all that and more, this episode certainly gets lit - English lit., that is.

If we choose to believe the Oxford English dictionary's definition of success, we would conclude that success is linked with the pursuit of external goals and rewards. Societal norms then lead us to believe that our happiness is woven into this pursuit of success and achievement of these goals. However, science and research is telling … Continue reading "Redefining Success – Motivation to be happy."

Boom! This show opens with a colossal KaBoom – or make that KABOOMER! Yep, you read that right, KABOOMER may not be in the Oxford English or Websters dictionary, but make no mistake about it, it’s a word the Aging GreatFULLy show is delighted to not only recognize, but also embrace.Join this FUNtabulous episode as we welcome David Emerson Frost, a NFPT- certified Master Fitness Trainer, a rowing coach, champion competitor and award-winning adjunct professor. He’s also the author of the new release, KABOOMER: Thriving and Striving Into Your Nineties. KABOOMER is a jam-packed, you-can-do-it handbook that guides readers with awesome habits for strength training and stamina activities. And that’s definitely what Dave Frost is on a mission to not only do himself, but shepherd others into doing the same…and then some!Dave Frost earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the US Naval Academy, and his Master of Systems Management degree from University of South California. He also gained post-graduate education at the Naval War College and the National Defense University. Passionate about his work, he founded and leads Well Past Forty LLC to actively promote both wellness and fitness for athletes of all ages and abilities. He specializes in nutrition, endurance, and strength training for people who deal with cancer, MS, PD, CP, diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Dave is also a non-profit executive and volunteer for America Rows. As a national and world champion Master’s rower, Dave’s accomplishments and training directly align with his fitness training. KaBoomer Koach Dave provides certified group, one-on-one online training sessions for athletes of all ages to add life in their years and years to their lives. As host Holley Kelley shares, there’s boomers and then there’s KABOOMERS. After this episode, listeners will be eager to get to their KABOOMING KABOOMERING. Don’t miss this inspiring and educational power-hour of enlightYOUment that imparts life-enhancing practices encouraging everyone to live their best life NOW and contribute to their overall health, wellness and longevity along the way!Learn all about Dave’s KABOOMER life’s work by visiting him at www.wellpastforty.com. If you enjoy this episode, please share it with your friends and family. At the Aging GreatFULLy show, we bring inspirational topics and transformational guests to listeners around the world to encourage everyone to enjoy the journey of life and inspire them towards Aging GreatFULLy.This show is available on innumerable podcast platforms and if you enjoy our messages, we are greatFULL and grateful for your amazing show reviews! We love hearing from listeners, you can reach out, share, listen, download and connect with us via our official host page at: www.CTRNetwork.com/holleykelley.

In this episode of "Ojai: Talk of the Town," we check in with Ojai's Rotie's co-owner and chef, Claud Mann. A wonderful storyteller, Claud talks about being on the front lines feeding Ojai residents during this pandemic, trying to keep as many of his talented staff employed as possible. Claud talks about the business of restaurants, the low-profit margins, the hard work, and that moment when a chef realizes who he's cooking for, and why. We talk about what Ojai might look like after the stay-at-home order is lifted and millions of Los Angelenos, cooped up for months, are looking for an escape. We talk about how so many people are baking during this quarantine, and the chef makes a generous offer — contact him at Ojai Rotie and he will teach you about sourdough, with some training and a simple recipe. After growing up in the Bay Area — training as an actor as well as learning his way around a kitchen — Mann fed AIDs victims, before moving to Los Angeles, meeting the love of his wife, the renowned singer Perla Batalla, then getting out of the restaurant business to raise his family. When a new opportunity came knocking, he was ready, developing with Turner Broadcasting Systems and their vast film archives, a show called "Dinner & A Movie," pairing Chef Claud's creations with comedian-hosts. The show ran 900 episodes from 1995 to 2011. But when it became clear that the network wanted to him to pitch unhealthy food products, it was time to move on to the next stage of his life, developing healthy nutrition programs for Santa Barbara County students, funded by the Orfalea Foundation. We also talk about Mann's obsession with the Memphis Barbecue Festival, where after being introduced to it as a correspondent for Southern Living, he was inspired to put together a crew to take on the world's best pitmasters. Listen for the surprise ending to that story. Next year, second week of May, there may be well an Ojai barbecue crew in Memphis. Reading and watching recommendations from our conversation include Harold McGee's classic, "On Food & Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen." And the Mandarin language show on Netflix, "Flavorful Origins." We agree that small-town life is the best. That his wife's career has really taken off since we moved here, and how wonderful it was to see his wife and daughter singing their hearts out on stage at Libbey Bowl. What connects his kitchen skills and his wife's singing skills is that they are both gifted people, and they are sharing their gifts with Ojai. In the ending monologue, I talk about my encounter with Pulitzer-prize winner Jonathan Gold, and how he taught me that food is at the heart of a culture. We do not talk about the Sumerian cuneiform, the CA-25 district congressional race or the creation of the Oxford English dictionary.

Today, there are many who would identify themselves as Christians, yet the Christian life for so many is rooted in convenience rather than Biblical convictions. Convictions are an expression of faith, and Christians often talk about a sense of conviction that grows when God’s word does its work. But what does it mean to be “convicted” of something?The Oxford English dictionary defines the word ‘conviction’ as “a firmly held belief or opinion”, something you cling to so strongly that it impacts the way you think and the way you live your life. Someone has put it this way, “a belief is what you hold, but a conviction is what holds you”. Conviction is an incredibly valuable yet increasingly rare trait that the early Christians appeared to have a lot of. First century Christians had a difficult life, but through conviction and faith they spread the Gospel across the known world. Conviction is a powerful motivator, and it is what is needed today in a world filled with difficult questions and very few answers. But can the conviction of Christians conquer the world again? How can we cultivate a strong Biblical conviction? What kind of process is needed to bring a person to faith in Christ?Let's join Tony as he shares a powerful testimony that will encourage you to cultivate the habit of anchoring your convictions in the Bible.Support the show (https://www.greatcommissionsociety.org/donate)

Rockstar CMO FM (the M is for Marketing the F is for.. well it’s up to you, as this podcast is about f’in marketing).**WARNING There is a swear word at the very beginning of this episode, but I could resist adding this outtake ***In this episode, I talk about the latest issue of Rockstar CMO – THE GHOST TOWN ISSUE and Ian Truscott our Founding Editor talks to Rachel Miller, Global Influencer Marketing Lead at SAP.Regular Rockstar CMO readers will know Rachel, from her popular post last year that urged us to Ignore the Wackadoos, which was in our TOP 10 for months. But, Rachel is more than an entertaining writer, she is a recognized B2B influencer marketing expert, who’s recently joined SAP in what she’s described as her “dream job”.We talk about tips for working from home (and wearing pants) during the Corona lockdown, her dream job at SAP and why influencer marketing is so important to SAP.We dig into influencer marketing, how to deal with the cynicism as influencer marketing reached peak hype last year, tips on choosing influencers from the loud voices to the very engaged.Of course, I couldn’t resist digging into the word “wackadoos”and learn why this should be included in the Oxford English dictionary and what she would chuck into the Rockstar CMO pool.Enjoy!

Research begins at 15:35Andy and Art, live from quarantine! To bunk or not to bunk, that is the question! Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The whole enchilada of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles. Today Andy and Art discuss whether William Shakespeare, the immortal bard, truly wrote all his plays! Was it all Slick Willy or was it a litany of other folks??Andy and Art are NOT captured once again by the titular Mr. Bunker - what postcard did he send them this time?In the second segment, Andy and Art give you, the listeners, an uninterrupted presentation of their research into whether William Shakespeare wrote all his plays.Finally, Andy and Art discuss whether William Shakespeare wrote all his plays at length. They also talk about Craig Basketweaver, snooty college professors, Shrek, and so much more!Send us your thoughts to @MrBunkerPod and mrbunkerpod@gmail.com using the hashtag #SlickWillyShakespeareMusic by Michael MartelloArtwork by Hannah RossAudio Editing by Arthur StoneFollow Us:TwitterInstagramWebsiteYoutubeLinks Mentioned:William Shakespeare | Facts, Life, & Plays | Britannica William Shakespeare - Britannica Did Shakespeare really write his own plays? Did Shakespeare really write his own plays? - HistoryWhy some people think Shakespeare didn't write Shakespeare, explained Why some people think Shakespeare didn't write Shakespeare, explained - VoxJustice Stevens's Dissenting Shakespeare Theory Justice Stevens’s Dissenting Shakespeare TheoryShakespeare the 'hard-headed businessman' uncovered Shakespeare the 'hard-headed businessman' uncovered - The IndependentFrancis Bacon | Biography, Philosophy, & Facts Francis Bacon - BritannicaBaconian theory of Shakespeare authorship Baconian Theory of Shakespeare Authorship - WikipediaEdward de Vere, 17th earl of Oxford | English poet and dramatist Edward de Vere - BritannicaOxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship Oxfordian Theory of Shakespeare Authorship - WikipediaTop Reasons Why Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, was Shakespeare - Top Reasons Why Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, was Shakespeare - Shakespeare Oxford FellowshipTimeline of Shakespeare's plays Timeline of Shakespeare’s Plays - Royal Shakespeare Company

Follow Us on Social Media: Twitter: @DrinkWAuthors Instagram: DrinkingwithAuthors New episodes weekly! Mark Vickers has long made his living as a business writer, editor, researcher and occasional ghostwriter. He has also published essays, short stories and poetry. He resides in St. Petersburg with his multi-talented wife, a homicidal tabby who is the Grendel of the local lizard population, a Siamese with an Oxford English-sized vocabulary, and a towering oak tree that is the Yggdrasil of the local squirrel population. His novel The Tollkeeper is literary fantasy narrated by an ancient Florida toll collector who tells two intertwined stories, an epic coming of age story set in medieval Norway and a modern Florida noir mystery. Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tollkeeper-Mark-Vickers-ebook/dp/B07GCGC3GC  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetollkeeper/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/mark_r_vickers     Music and artwork by: James D. Haney   In association with Wordier Than Thou Check them out at woriderthanthou.com  

Follow Us on Social Media: Twitter: @DrinkWAuthors Instagram: DrinkingwithAuthors New episodes weekly! Mark Vickers has long made his living as a business writer, editor, researcher and occasional ghostwriter. He has also published essays, short stories and poetry. He resides in St. Petersburg with his multi-talented wife, a homicidal tabby who is the Grendel of the local lizard population, a Siamese with an Oxford English-sized vocabulary, and a towering oak tree that is the Yggdrasil of the local squirrel population. His novel The Tollkeeper is literary fantasy narrated by an ancient Florida toll collector who tells two intertwined stories, an epic coming of age story set in medieval Norway and a modern Florida noir mystery. Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tollkeeper-Mark-Vickers-ebook/dp/B07GCGC3GC  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetollkeeper/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/mark_r_vickers     Music and artwork by: James D. Haney   In association with Wordier Than Thou Check them out at woriderthanthou.com  

World leaders are meeting at COP25 in Madrid, Spain as a wave of new reports continue to be released outlining the growing climate crisis. Will this make a difference? What's at stake for COP25? The Guardian's Environmental Correspondent Fiona Harvey joins the show from Madrid to report on the summit.  Then, Fiona McPherson, Senior Editor at the Oxford English Dictionary, joins the podcast to explain why "climate emergency" was 2019's Oxford Word of the Year. This is a very good conversation with a lot of really good words.  Two Fionas in one show! Give it a listen and thanks for being great.  This episode was sponsored by Hero Power, a 100% renewable energy option that provides affordable, reliable electricity to Illinois residents at the same price as ComEd. Learn more at myheropower.com. As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Follow Fiona Harvey on Twitter Follow Oxford English Dictionary on Twitter Further Reading: Climate crisis: what is COP and can it save the world by Fiona Harvey Word of the Year 2019 by Oxford Dictionaries 

Top Ten Reliability Myths Abstract Carl and Fred discussing some of the biggest myths surrounding reliability, based on their experience in managing reliability programs. Key Points Join Carl and Fred as they talk about reliability myths. The Oxford English dictionary defines “myth” as “a widely held but false belief or idea.” Topics include: Myth 1: […] The post SOR 461 The Big Reliability Myths appeared first on Accendo Reliability.

This week we discuss baseball card collecting and why it matters, the differences in value, The Professor and the Madman movie, the Oxford English dictionary, the X-Men, the Avengers, Conan, the Savage Avengers, anti-heroes, Game of Thrones, Jon Snow (anti-hero?) and a whole lot more! 143podcasts.com 143podcasts@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Drawing is something a lot of artists do regularly, but for others -- especially abstract artists-- it has been pushed back to a musty corner with art-school exercises or early work in realism. But drawing, including abstract drawing, is an excellent way to keep your work vital and personal. What is the role of drawing in your work, and is it something that you would like to develop? Episode mentioned: https://messystudio.fireside.fm/21 https://messystudio.fireside.fm/68 Piece mentioned: https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/2013/04/11/possible-van-gogh-painting-exhibit/2074219/ Relates to discussion about drawing in podcast about Intuition with Nuala Clarke and Joanna Kidney, both find it important part of their process (#68) Drawing def. by Miriam Webster shows the narrow way in which many regard drawing: “the art or technique of representing an object or outlining a figure, plan, or sketch by means of lines” Oxford English dictionary is similarly limited: “a picture or diagram made with a pencil, pen, or crayon rather than paint” “I can't draw” is like “I can't cook”—there are lots of ways to approach it and once you find something that works for you, you may want to expand your repertoire Maybe why many current artists prefer the term mark-making/more inclusive –we've discussed this when talking in earlier podcasts about visual elements A look at contemporary and modern artists' drawings may be enough to open your mind if you are stuck in this mindset: famous ones like Cy Twombly, Agnes Martin, many famous painters also have done incredible drawings, too numerous to mention Using non-traditional materials, surfaces, even drawing right on gallery walls— Rocio Rodriguez— Linn Meyers Some contemporary work hard to define as drawing in any traditional sense—for example drawing with wire or sticks huge scale, tiny scale, everything from very expressive and loose to intricate and controlled (Michael Geddis #21) Many painters include drawing within their imagery, done with paint, paint sticks, or other techniques to create lines or marks. Drawing does not need to be a separate category. Why is drawing important? **as personal notes: keeping a sketchbook of some sort—can be drawings from life, or non-referential drawing, doodles, marks—accessing intuition, identifying interests, making observations, noting ideas ** traditional role of drawing as study for paintings/sculptures. Study=exploration; you don't need to copy your drawings—they are just the first steps **drawing may be shared or just for yourself; tends to make people self-conscious like handwriting but lots of us doodle, not meant as serious art, but can feed your other work, it is not unimportant just because you don't include it in your main work **be open to drawing from reality even if an abstract artist but don't limit to that, and same goes for realist artists—try some more abstract kinds of free mark-making. You can learn from either direction. **as personal expression—explore a range of types of mark-making—different media, techniques, range of fluency/control, range of emotional expression, asemic writing **as part of personal voice—discovering kinds of marks that seem like you, that may include imagery or symbols, outlines, geometric forms—use these freely in abstract work Tips for working with drawing: *pay attention to what others do in their work, what do you respond to? *think of drawing as a way to add visual texture *as a way to add structure—to lead eye through the work *consider where a line or mark could make a real contribution, and what kind of mark that would be www.rebeccacrowell.com www.squeegeepress.com www.facebook.com/messystudiopodcast

RR133 Word of the Week: Hope Did you know about all the biblical definitions and explanations for the word hope? Ried did not. In this week's word of the week she goes over the usual Cambridge and Oxford English dictionary definitions for hope. But there is added commentary on the religious interpretations of the word hope as well. Like, share, comment, subscribe: Home on the web https://riedrants.com/ @RiedRants on Instagram and Twitter Donate at https://www.patreon.com/RiedRants Comment at https://www.facebook.com/RiedRants/ Download at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/riedrants/id1234080385?mt=2 Or https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/ried-rants?refid=stpr Or even https://soundcloud.com/riedrants https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz07tkeud_bSx-1dWQC7Urw?view Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music Research and Links https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/hope https://www.patheos.com/blogs/christiancrier/2014/05/26/what-is-the-biblical-or-christian-definition-of-hope/ https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/hope https://www.etymonline.com/word/hope https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgXzigsp5JM&vl=en https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope

Sarah & Jen talk A Hunger Like No Other, why reading Alphas in 2018 is a tricky situation, how Kresley instantly changed the game with Lachlain MacRieve, and why Emma's bite sets the standard for the whole series.Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you're there, a like would be awesome! Our next read (in two weeks) will be No Rest for the Wicked — the story of Sebastian Wroth (vampire) and Kaderin the Cold-Hearted (valkyrie), and the beginning of the IAD Amazing Race mini-arc! Show NotesWhy do people hate the word moist?There really are catacombs below Paris, and they seem very creepy.Co-ed is a more dated word than you'd expect. According to the Oxford English dictionary, it's been in use since the 1880s. Game, set, and match to The Independent, which printed the following sentence in 1903: "Any college where the girls are commonly called ‘co-eds' is not a truly co-educational institution."The TSTL trope in romance heroines.All about Mary Sues.The Fated Mates trope.Maybe you all missed the Kavanaugh hearings. I love myself, so we'll just stick to one informative infographic.Jen's romance book club at 57th Street Books in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. If you're not in Chicago, bookstores and libraries across the country and online will be participating in The Great Big Romance Read in December 2018. Find your people!Romance isn't the only genre examining old favorites through the lens of #MeToo. Molly Ringwald looked back at John Hughes and The Breakfast Club in The New Yorker. This podcast from WNYC is about pop culture in the #MeToo era.The list of

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, a like would be awesome!Our next read (in two weeks) will be No Rest for the Wicked — the story of Sebastian Wroth (vampire) and Kaderin the Cold-Hearted (valkyrie), and the beginning of the IAD Amazing Race mini-arc!Show Notes- Why do people hate the word moist?- There really are catacombs below Paris, and they seem very creepy.- Co-ed is a more dated word than you'd expect. According to the Oxford English dictionary, it's been in use since the 1880s. Game, set, and match to The Independent, which printed the following sentence in 1903: "Any college where the girls are commonly called ‘co-eds’ is not a truly co-educational institution."- The TSTL trope in romance heroines.- All about Mary Sues.- The Fated Mates trope.- Maybe you all missed the Kavanaugh hearings. I love myself, so we'll just stick to one informative infographic.- Jen's romance book club at 57th Street Books in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. If you're not in Chicago, bookstores and libraries across the country and online will be participating in The Great Big Romance Read in December 2018. Find your people!- Romance isn't the only genre examining old favorites through the lens of #MeToo. Molly Ringwald looked back at John Hughes and The Breakfast Club in The New Yorker. This podcast from WNYC is about pop culture in the #MeToo era.- The list of RITA award winners, sorted by year.- A million articles have been written about Twilight, but I like this one that looks at the big themes that bubble up time and time again.- Alisha Rai has said lots of smart things about toxic masculinity, as it turns out.- Representation in BDSM matters.- Take a crash course in modernity.- A brief overview of Cassandra from Greek mythology.- The Devil in Winter, because everyone loves to read about a sex deal.- According to The Smart Bitches, a magic hoo-hah is "shorthand for the equally illustrious and many powers of the female sex organ, specifically the vagina. The Magic Hoo-Hoo tames the Mighty Wang, and becomes the magnetized true north for the hero’s trouser compass from the point of their first sexual coupling. The Magic Hoo-Hoo brings the hero to monogamous attachment, because after experiencing it, the hero will not be satisfied with anything or anyone else."- I'm sure everyone wants to learn more about moon phases.- Fury is an actual furie.- When we say Lothaire was a big deal, we mean there was an actual Lothaire bus touring around America.- Are you ready for No Rest for the Wicked?

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the GameCola Podcast as a monthly videogame news and discussion podcast featuring such hilarious hosts as Joseph Martin, Diana Gray, and Anna Bryniarski, though it is known to introduce entirely new members to the cast such as Matt Breslow. Those who listen to the show may be interested in the quality of the new Mario Party game or getting Diana's "expert" opinion on law in videogames. The show has also been rumored to answer fan questions from time to time. Whether you Love Nikki or hate together-cars, this podcast will meet all of your videogame topic needs, including such topics as... - Is Super Mario Party finally a good entry in the series? - Diana updates us on the legal cases of Quantic Dream and Telltale - A fan asks us what RPG archetypes we would be in the fictional fantasy: Alocema: G - We speak to the dictionary for a bit - Why does everyone Love Nikki so much? - Matt is doing a ridiculous Pokémon completion quest - How does the Oxford English Dictionary define the videogames we have been playing in recent times? [Podcast Intro/Outro “5 is Average” by Meteo Xavier]

RR108 Word of the Week: Trepidation Ried looks at the definition for trepidation and although Cambridge and Oxford English dictionaries "basically" have the same definition the important difference is "may" vs. "going" ...to happen. She gets a little excited and her errant thoughts may be a little more vocal in this episode but still here is a new word that will be easy to add into your vocabulary. Research and Links https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/trepidation https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/trepidation https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/trepidation Short on time; want an extra chuckle? Listen at time and a half and learn a little quicker. Like, share, comment, subscribe: https://riedrants.com/ @RiedRants on Instagram and Twitter https://www.patreon.com/RiedRants https://www.facebook.com/RiedRants/ https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/riedrants/id1234080385?mt=2 https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/ried-rants?refid=stpr https://soundcloud.com/riedrants Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

According to the Oxford English dictionary, a Renaissance man is defined as “a person with many talents or areas of knowledge.” It’s an apt description for Ben Branson, the founder and CEO of Seedlip, an innovative brand of non-alcoholic distilled spirits. A branding and design specialist by trade, Branson’s passion for botany, history and alchemy led him to distillation, a craft in which he’s become a self-taught expert. What began as a hobby has since transformed into Seedlip, a highly publicized and sought after brand that in just three years since launch is now carried by hundreds of the world’s top restaurants, bars and retailers in over 20 countries. In addressing the dilemma of “what to drink when you’re not drinking,” Seedlip is aiming to give mixologists a new tool to create unique and sophisticated non-alcoholic drinking experiences. In an interview included in this episode, Branson spoke about his vision for a non-alcoholic spirit and how he’s managed the rapid growth and development of Seedlip. Show notes: 2:36: Interview: Ben Branson, Founder/CEO, Seedlip -- In an interview recorded by weblink, Branson spoke with BevNET Managing Editor Ray Latif about the origins of Seedlip and how he identified an opportunity to innovate in the multi-billion dollar spirits industry. Branson discussed how he bridged the gap from a passion project to a brand, the story of how Seedlip's first sale led to an invite to Buckingham Palace, how the brand elicits trial and awareness through design and storytelling, Branson’s 10-second sales pitch for Seedlip, and what he drinks when he is drinking alcohol. 34:50: Expo-sure in Baltimore -- The hosts convene in the Taste Radio studio for a debrief on the recently held Natural Products Expo East 2018. They discuss the impact of Hurricane Florence on attendance at the annual event, exhibitor reaction to the show and notable food trends on display at Expo East, including a continued uptick in new jerky and dried fruit brands coming to market. Brands in this episode: Seedlip, Mother Kombucha, Tribucha, Country Archer, RIND Snacks, Sky Valley Foods, Lavva, Stryve, Ayoba-Yo, Brooklyn Biltong, Fishpeople, Peckish

Getting publicity doesn’t always have to be expensive.   In fact, there’s a new word that just got entered into the Oxford English dictionary, and it could be a cheap solution to your publicity problems.   It’s called Newsjacking, and it’s a fun and simple way to attract more attention to your business without spending an arm and a leg on advertising. News stories break every minute of the day, and the media is often scrambling for people to quote, and you want to be that person.   So how do you newsjack?   Well, it’s actually a lot like surfing - you have to ride the wave early to be successful or else you’re going to miss it.   Plus, there are certain aspects to newsjacking that you want to be sensitive to, otherwise you might come across offensive or inconsiderate.   We talked about newsjacking back in Episode 124, but this time I’m interviewing the man who coined the term — David Meerman Scott.   So if you’re ready to learn how to capitalize on breaking news to garner inexpensive publicity for your business, then you don’t want to miss this episode of Video Marketing Mastery.

Welcome back to The TEFLology Podcast - a podcast all about teaching English as a foreign language and related matters.  In this episode, Rob reviews the latest updates to the Oxford English dictionary, Matt explores the ideas of sustained learning, and Matthew talks about the life and work of Indian grammarian Pāṇini.  Please enjoy this episode!   Email - Ask us questions, give us feedback, tell us what you think of the show. Website - Listen to previous episodes, find out more information about us and the podcast.  iTunes - Subscribe to the podcast, or rate and review us.  Facebook - Like our page, share it with your colleagues or friends. Twitter - Follow us and retweet us. 

In Part Two of this file the prolific, multiple award-winning, New York Times bestselling author, Catherynne M. Valente, took a break at her spooky writer’s island to chat with me about her superhero origin story, earning street cred with readers, and her truly unique process. Rainmaker.FM is Brought to You By Discover why more than 80,000 companies in 135 countries choose WP Engine for managed WordPress hosting. Start getting more from your site today! Since her first novel — The Labyrinth, published in 2004 — the hybrid author has gone on to pen over 24 volumes of both fiction and poetry across multiple genres (including fantasy, sci-fi, young adult, and horror). In addition to being published and anthologized in dozens of print and online journals, Catherynne has won or been nominated for every major award in her field, including the Hugo Award (for both a novel and a podcast), and been a finalist for both the Nebula and World Fantasy Awards. She is perhaps best known for her crowdfunded phenomenon The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making — a book launched by a dedicated online fan community that went on to become a NY Times bestseller. The series — which recently concluded with book five, The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All the Way Home — has been lauded by fellow author Neil Gaiman, and Time magazine called it, “One of the most extraordinary works of fantasy, for adults or children, published so far this century.” The prolific author continues to find innovative ways to connect with her audience, and she recently launched a Patreon project called “The Mad Fiction Laboratory,” where she offers professional and personalized advice on the business and craft of writing, as well as a sneak peek at her multiple works-in-progress. If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click subscribe to automatically see new interviews. If you missed the first half you can find it right here. In Part Two of this file Catherynne Valente and I discuss: Her love of Spotify playlists for writing inspiration Why the first draft doesn’t have to be perfect Her organizational hack for Scrivener writers Why your personal creative outlet is important for your sanity Where the author keeps her three Oxford English Dictionaries and 24 tarot decks Why writers need to read everything Listen to The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience below ... Download MP3 Subscribe by RSS Subscribe in iTunes The Show Notes If you’re ready to see for yourself why over 200,000 website owners trust StudioPress — the industry standard for premium WordPress themes and plugins — just go to StudioPress.com How Bestselling Fantasy & Sci-Fi Author Catherynne M. Valente Writes: Part One CatherynneMValente.com Catherynne M. Valente on Amazon Cat’s Patreon project – “The Mad Fiction Laboratory” Cat Valente on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter The Transcript How Bestselling Fantasy & Sci-Fi Author Catherynne M. Valente Writes: Part Two Voiceover: Rainmaker FM. Kelton Reid: Hey, hey. Welcome back to the Writer Files. I am still your host, Kelton Reid, here to take you on another tour of the habits, habitats and brains of renowned writers. In part two of this file, the prolific, multiple award winning New York Times bestselling author Catherynne M. Valente, took a break from her spooky writer’s island to chat with me about her superhero origin story, earning street cred with readers, and her truly unique process. Since her first novel, Labyrinth, published in 2004, the hybrid author has gone on to pen over 24 volumes of both fiction and poetry across multiple genres. In addition to being published and anthologized in dozens of print and online journals, Catherynne has won or been nominated for every major award in her field, including the Hugo Award for both a novel and a podcast, and been a finalist for both the Nebula and World Fantasy Awards. She’s perhaps best known for her crowd-funded phenomenon, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, a book launched by a dedicated online fan community that went on to become a New York Times Bestseller. The series, which recently concluded with the fifth book, has been lauded by fellow author Neil Gaiman, and Time magazine called it, “One of the most extraordinary works of fantasy for adults or children published so far this century.” The prolific author continues to find innovative ways to connect with her audience. She recently launched a Patreon project called The Mad Fiction Laboratory, where she offers professional and personalized advice on the business and craft of writing, as well as a sneak peek into her multiple works in progress. In part two of this file, Cat and I discuss her love of Spotify playlists for writing inspiration, why the first draft doesn’t have to be perfect, her organizational hacks for Scrivener writers, why your personal creative outlet is important for your sanity, where the author keeps her three Oxford dictionaries and 24 tarot card decks, and why writers need to read everything. And if you missed the first half of this show, you can find it in the archives on Apple Podcasts and on WriterFiles.FM, as well as in the show notes. The Writer Files is brought to you by the all the new StudioPress Sites, a turnkey solution that combines the ease of an all-in-one website builder with the flexible power of WordPress. It’s perfect for authors, bloggers, podcasters, and affiliate marketers, as well as those selling physical products, digital downloads, and membership programs. If you’re ready to take your WordPress site to the next level, see for yourself why over 200,000 website owners trust StudioPress. Go to Rainmaker.FM/StudioPress now. That’s Rainmaker.FM/StudioPress. And if you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click subscribe to automatically see new interviews as soon as they’re published. Her Love of Spotify Playlists for Writing Inspiration Kelton Reid: Input often equals output for highly prolific writers like yourself. Yeah, so it sounds like coffee is one of the things that kinda gets you in the mode before you sit down. Do you stick on headphones, or do you just kinda prefer silence? Catherynne Valente: Funny thing, I’ve changed a lot over the years. Because I used to write a lot in cafes, and I had my headphones on, and I always had to have 100 percent of my music library available on my laptop, to the detriment of any other storage on my laptop. But, then I would be in the office, I’d have to have music on, I d have to have playlists. And boy, these days, I can’t stand having headphones on when I work, because it makes my head feel compressed, like wrapped up in cotton. And I will go from either total silence … I do make a Spotify playlist for every book that I work on. Kelton Reid: Oh, nice. Catherynne Valente: Yeah. And basically what I do is, I search for keywords having to do with the story and then just dump all the music into a file, and as I work, I’ll remove things if they’re terrible. So for the Bronte book, I put Charlotte and Emily into Spotify, and every song that had those names in it, I put in … and Jane for Jane Eyre, things like that, I put into a file. And for the Mass Effect book, I just pulled all my favorite video game soundtracks into a playlist. So I’ll either listen to that or nothing, these days. I have to have a lot more peace around me. I used to be able to write with people in a Starbucks milling about all the time, that time is done. Kelton Reid: For sure. Spotify has come a long way too, in recent years. Catherynne Valente: It really has. Why the First Draft Doesn t have to be Perfect Kelton Reid: They have some spooky algorithms that can kinda almost guess exactly what you want to hear next. Well okay, so here’s the million-dollar question: How do you feel about writer’s block? Do you believe in it, is it a thing, have you ever had it? Catherynne Valente: Yeah, sure. Not being able to think of something is always a real thing. I tend to try and work on something else if I can’t figure out what to do. Writer’s block for me is more, I can’t figure out what the right plot point to do next is. So while I’m thinking of what to do next, I will either work on another project or go running or something. As far as just not being able to write at all, I’m not gonna say that doesn’t still happen to me, because it does. But I no longer really have the luxury of indulging that for more than a day or two, because I have a number of people relying on me turning in a manuscript. So, “You’ll get in trouble if you don’t do this,” is a great motivator. I used to be really focused on having the first draft be completely perfect. And I think I had a lot less problems when I let that go and started thinking, “You can fix it in post,” the way you can fix something in post-production in a movie. That’s what I always tell myself, You can fix it in post. The first draft does not have to be a work that inspires feelings of awe in people. It can have problems, and those problems can be fixed. So that’s helpful. I mean, I still try to make the first draft as good as I can make it, but I don’t necessarily refuse to go onto the next page until everything before it is right, anymore. Kelton Reid: I love that. Fix it in post. So it sounds like you are a Mac user? Catherynne Valente: I am, yeah. I am. Down in my office I have this … I love the computer I have even though it’s old, because it has a great story. So it s a 2008 all-in-one Mac desktop. I got it, because I posted, “Does anybody have a Mac desktop that they want to sell? Can’t afford to get one of the big schmancy new ones, but if somebody has one reasonably priced, I’m interested.” And Smith College, the librarians at Smith College emailed me and said, “We will trade you, we’re getting rid of all our library computers and replacing them, we will trade you one for a complete set of your books signed,” and I was like, Absolutely sold. No problem. Kelton Reid: Wow. That is so cool. Catherynne Valente: So my computer is from the library at Smith College. I do love it, and I have an Air laptop. Honestly, I travel so much that the lightness of the Air is really crucial. When I used to have an older, heavier laptop, I constantly had shoulder problems from carrying it everywhere. But I am a Mac user. I don’t know how much longer, given the changes they’re making, but for the moment. My gaming computer is a PC. Kelton Reid: Well, are you primarily Microsoft Word, or are you more of the Scrivener school? Catherynne Valente: I am all Scrivener, all the time. I am a Scrivener evangelist. I could not function without it. They better not ever stop supporting that program, or I’ll be in trouble. No, I love Scrivener. That was actually why I switched to Mac in the first place. All of my friends were talking about Scrivener at the time, they didn’t have a PC version, so I switched over to Mac to use that program. It’s great. Kelton Reid: Yeah. Catherynne Valente: It’s just spectacular. Her Organizational Hack for Scrivener Writers Kelton Reid: Yeah. And for the self publishing piece, obviously that’s a huge advantage to Scrivener, obviously. That’s cool to hear. You’re working on multiple projects across multiple genres, you’re doing the productive procrastination thing, where you’re just moving from piece to piece. When you get stuck on one, you move to the other. So how do you stay organized? Do you have any tips? Catherynne Valente: Very poorly. I am not a particularly organized person, so I’m pretty bad with that from time to time. But I will say that one of the things I use Scrivener for, if I have anything that’s a hack, this is my hack. At the beginning of every year I start up a new Scrivener file, and all of the short stories, talks, poems, essays that I write for that year, I do in that one Scrivener file, and they’ll appear in the sidebar as chapters in folders, but the folders will say “short fiction,” essays, poetry. So I can see at a glance, everything I have to do this year and everything I have done with the year. Which helps me think of the year as a unit and helps me be able to tell anybody what I have due or what I have eligible for awards or anything like that. So that is one of the big things I use Scrivener for as an organizational tool. Kelton Reid: Very nice, very nice. Well, how does Catherynne M. Valente unwind at the end of a long writing day? Catherynne Valente: Usually I’ll come home and have a cocktail and watch something and knit or crochet. I’m a big fiber arts crafter. So it’s very meditative, knitting and crocheting. I used to spin as well, but between a novel deadline and spinning yarn for Christmas presents, I developed carpal tunnel really badly a couple years ago. I’m the first person to hurt themselves on a spinning wheel since Sleeping Beauty, it’s ridiculous. So unfortunately, because that was actually incredibly debilitating, I’ve been afraid to pick up spinning again. But it’s very meditative, doing these sort of crafts. My brain just keeps going and going, so it’s kinda bad for me to work late at night, though I still do sometimes, because I won’t be able to sleep for like four hours after I stop writing, because my brain just keeps on going. Kelton Reid: Well, I’d love to pick your brain about creativity a little bit if you have time. Catherynne Valente: Sure, yeah. Why Your Personal Creative Outlet is Important for Your Sanity Kelton Reid: How do you personally define creativity? Catherynne Valente: I think if you’re making things, whatever those things are, you’re being creative. But the thing is, even if you’re not making things, even if you’re just an avid reader, and just always imagining and thinking about the stories that you read, that’s creative too. I think we are creative beings. There are very few humans who aren’t creative in some way. It’s just that in our culture, we define creativity in restrictive ways, I do it professionally, so I’m a creative. But a housewife who is always making these perfect birthday cakes, or making crafts for her kid’s party, that doesn’t count as creative to most people even though it absolutely is. I think that most human beings actually would freak out if they didn’t have some creative outlet. For a lot of people, that’s even sports. The people who paint their faces and go to all these games, sports are a big part of their world, they turn that into a creative exercise. I think most people get very, very unhappy if they can’t make something out of their own head into something real in the real world. Kelton Reid: Yeah, yeah. It seems like your writing is the definition of creativity. But when do you personally feel most creative? Catherynne Valente: Right before I start a new project, I think, because I haven’t messed it up yet. It’s just perfect in my head, I haven’t messed it up by writing it. Because a lot of research and thinking and imagining goes into it before I start typing, so I feel very creative when I’m in the midst of research and discovering things and naming characters and places and all of that I really love. I cook a lot as well, so that’s definitely another creative outlet for me. I’m an avid cook, have been for most of my life. Kelton Reid: So do you feel like cooking is a creative muse for you? Catherynne Valente: Yeah, definitely. And it’s very different than writing, because it’s nonverbal and very sensual in the literal sense of involving all your senses, and physical, bubbling and sense and everything. So it can really ground you, I think. The Nougat Center of Human Experience Kelton Reid: Yeah. That’s interesting. I’ve heard other writers say that as well. It helps balance the very cerebral writing piece. So what do you think, in your estimation, makes a writer great? Catherynne Valente: An easy question. No, it’s not at all an easy question. Everybody has different writers that they think are great, so there’s obviously a wide range of answers on that. God, I’m gonna say it’s Emily Dickinson and I don’t know if it even really is. But I remember coming across a quote a long time ago by somebody who said that they felt as though a certain book had taken the top of their head off. And that’s what I’m always looking for. I’m always looking for a book that completely arrests me and makes me feel like my head’s been spun around and taken off. I’m always questing for that, I’m always digging through books. I have this little button from a book festival that says, “Go ahead, book, change me. Do it.” I’m like, That’s what I’m always looking for, that’s what I always want. And there are books that I feel that way about, and I may not even like anything else that that author has written. But then other people may like other books of theirs more than they do the one I love so much. Everybody is so different in terms of what they define greatness as. I myself, what am I looking for? I’m looking for nice language, and I don’t necessarily just mean nice as in pretty, but I will happily take good dialogue if that’s what’s there. I’m looking for a book that has something to say. I’m just looking for the juice, I’m looking for the nougat center of human experience dressed up with all of the wonderful trappings of genre. Kelton Reid: Yeah. I like that. Everything in there is grist for the mill. Do you have a couple faves right now that are just kinda sitting on your nightstand or that you’re just kinda obsessed with? A couple favorite authors? Catherynne Valente: Well, so last year I read Human Croquet, which is by Kate Atkinson, which sounds really messed up. Though it is a messed up book, less messed up than that title sounds. Human Croquet is apparently some type of Victorian party game, where people make themselves into hoops and somersault under each other and stuff like a kids’ party game. That book was so good, I read the entire thing on my phone. There’s a level of goodness in books, and read the whole thing on your phone is really high level. And I really loved it. I loved it to pieces. I read a lot of nonfiction books last year that I really enjoyed. Weir, Alison Weir and her book Mary, Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley, I really liked a lot. And I’m rereading the Dirk Gently books right now. I mean, Douglas Adams is frustrating, because you can’t really top him. You’re not gonna do better at making a sentence or starting a book or really much of anything than Douglas Adams. It s the same with Terry Pratchett. You can’t do better than that, you can just sit back and admire. Kelton Reid: Yeah. Well, you did share already one best loved quote. Do you have any others, or one that sticks out that’s hanging over your desk or stuck in your head? Catherynne Valente: God, I don’t know what happened to it, I think I lost it when I moved, I used to have Jack Kerouac’s 29 Rules for Writing over my desk. Not anymore. But I’ve been reading some Dorothy Sayers lately. And she’s just incredible as far as quotes. If you want quotes about really pretty much anything, she is just extraordinary. She wrote around the same time as Agatha Christie, and the murder mysteries as well. She’s got one that I sent to all my friends, it’s something like, “Nothing makes one feel so cozy as reading about a ghastly murder on a rainy day.” And I think that that’s so true when it comes to the horror genre, which is one of my favorite genres. There is such a peculiar pleasure to reading about terrible things happening when nothing terrible is happening to you. It’s some kind of circle of schadenfreude. It’s not what I think humankind should be most proud of as a species, but it’s definitely an instinct we don’t address that much. I love quotations, I always have. I have several dictionaries with quotations in the house. My dad actually sent me a link the other day, apparently I have a page on BrainyQuote, and I felt complete. Because I used to be one of those kids that would walk around straight reading from the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations like it was a novel. Where the Author Keeps Her Three Oxford English Dictionaries and 24 Tarot Decks Kelton Reid: Okay, before we wrap with advice to your fellow scribes, couple fun ones for you. I know that you have obviously an Oxford English dictionary, probably in the house. Catherynne Valente: Three. Kelton Reid: So you’ve got these ancient tomes of probably folklore and mythology, etc. that you dig into for inspiration. But you also mentioned reading an ebook on your phone. It sounds like you’re a hybrid reader, do you like one or the other? Catherynne Valente: For sure. Definitely both, I have a ton of books in my house. Half the reason I bought this house was all the walls are built-in bookshelves, so I have more bookshelf than book for the first time in my life. But I also have a Kindle, I really enjoy reading things on the Kindle. I tend to do a lot of my research nonfiction reading on the Kindle right now, because I can search for stuff that I vaguely remember coming across but forgot to put a bookmark in it. That’s really helpful, so I tend to do all that on the Kindle if I can, unless there’s a book that’s no available. But yeah, I definitely go back and forth. And with something like Human Croquet, I immediately bought a paper copy, because I loved it so much. If I love a book that I read on e-book I’ll get a paper copy. But I gotta say, I was very much like, “I will read print and nothing else forever. I gotta pay into the print publishing industry and put my money where my mouth is.” But I have to say that it’s really nice to be able to carry around a library of thousands of books in a little compact package, because I do travel so much. So that’s really nice to have when you’re on the road so often. So yeah, I’m definitely both. Because I do feel like there’s a lot of times I could get into a book if I was reading it in the print copy but I skim if I’m reading it in the e-copy. So it really depends. Kelton Reid: Yeah, no, I understand that sentiment completely. Do you have a favorite literary character of all time? Catherynne Valente: I mean … Kelton Reid: There’s no way you can do it. Catherynne Valente: Yeah, there really isn’t. There’s so many. It’s impossible. I could go anything from Susan from the Discworld books to Dionysus to Scheherazade to Jane Eyre, there’s a lot of characters that I genuinely love and would listen to anything they had to say. It’s like saying, What’s your favorite movie? I have answers, but it’s a more complicated question than that. Kelton Reid: Sure. I even hate the “name your top 10 movies” question. Catherynne Valente: It has to be divided by genre. Kelton Reid: Right. Okay. If you could choose one author from any era for an all-expense paid dinner to your favorite place in the world, who would you take and where would you take them? Catherynne Valente: So given the book I have coming out in September, it has to be Charlotte Bronte. And I think that I would take her to, oh God, am I gonna get it right? It’s the Angel at Hetton, I think? It’s a restaurant in Yorkshire which was featured in a television show called The Trip, which is one of my very, very favorites. And it is a very high end, Michelin starred restaurant, in the sort of there’s nothing around it. The Angel Inn, the Angel at Hetton. Nothing around it but moors for miles, but some of the most amazing food I’ve ever had, it’s just wonderful. And since Charlotte grew up in Yorkshire and is in many ways the voice of Yorkshire, I think she would be delighted to see Kelton Reid: For sure. All right, well, I’m sure we are running short of time, and I’ve asked you so many questions. But I have a feeling listeners are gonna want me to ask you do you have a writer’s fetish? Like, do you collect rare, weird first editions, or do you have, like I can’t imagine what you have hanging on the walls. Catherynne Valente: I have a lot of crazy stuff hanging on my wall. Actually, I would say that 85 percent of the stuff I have on the wall is created by fans of mine. Kelton Reid: Cool. Catherynne Valente: Which is very much on purpose. I never thought I did, because I always wanted to have these elaborate rituals to start writing and all of these objects and all that kind of stuff, and I always felt like it’s less work to just write the book. I even have a reputation for elegant, romantic writing, but I’m actually a very practical person in a lot of ways. But, it was pointed out to me when my partner moved in with me that, in fact, I have 28 tarot decks in this house. Kelton Reid: Wow. Catherynne Valente: And I’m reasonably sure there’s more he hasn’t found yet. So I think possibly I collect those without noticing that I was collecting them. Kelton Reid: Wow, that’s cool. That’s very interesting. That’s an interesting piece. You have a very, very interesting take on different characters that you would meet over a deck of tarot cards. Catherynne Valente: Yeah, absolutely. Kelton Reid: Well, before we wrap up with advice to your fellow writers, I just want to point back to your website CatherynneMValente.com, which I will link to in the show notes. The Patreon Mad Fiction laboratory, which looks like a lot of fun, and I will point back to that as well. You are on Twitter. Catherynne Valente: @catvalenti. Kelton Reid: Yeah. There’s so much out there to find. Amazing writing, actually found the Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy from 2016, you got this short story Planet Lion, which is the complete opposite of the Fairylands stuff. Catherynne Valente: Yeah. It could not be more different. Kelton Reid: So cool, so cool to see. Catherynne Valente: That story’s what got me the Mass Effect contract. Why Writers Need to Read Everything Kelton Reid: Amazing. So much out there to find. So can you offer some advice to your fellow writers on just how to keep going, how to keep the ink flowing and the cursor moving? Catherynne Valente: For me the answer has always been the same, from when I was a kid to now, which is to read everything. I get so inspired reading fiction and nonfiction. I will read a page from a nonfiction book and like ghostwriting my other hand will have written a page of notes. And it’s so intensely inspiring. And especially in these See, now I’ll be an old lady, In these days of social media … But we do, we read these very short outtakes of people’s thought processes and things like Twitter are functionally infinite quip generators. And it’s not quite the same fertile ground as fiction, whether you read that on an ebook reader, or in print, or whatever. And I think that nothing inspires so much as reading. There was one of my English classrooms when I was a kid, had a sign on the wall that said, “In order to write a novel, one must turn over half a library.” And I think that’s incredibly true. One of the things I’m gonna talk about in Patreon that I feel like people don’t very much. Because people always talk about your first novel, but nobody wants to talk about your second. The thing is, I think people always turn over a full library for their first novel, because everything they’ve ever wanted to write is in that first novel somewhere, they’ve crammed it all in. It’s like a first album, everything you’ve worked so hard on for years. But then you have to turn over another half a library for the next book. And you usually have to do it a lot faster than it took to turn over that library for the first book. Much like the second album slump. So you have to keep going through those libraries, you have to keep finding new and healthful foods to put into your brain. And for me, there’s nothing as inspiring as reading. Kelton Reid: Ah, I love it. So much wisdom there and throughout. Thanks for taking the time, Cat, we really appreciate you coming on here to do this. Catherynne Valente: Absolutely, thanks for having me. Kelton Reid: Cheers. Thanks so much for joining us for this half of a tour of the writer’s process. If you enjoy The Writer Files, please subscribe to the show, and leave us a rating or a review on Apple Podcasts to help other writers find us. And for more episodes, or just to leave a comment or a question, you can always drop by WriterFiles.FM and chat with me on Twitter at @KeltonReid. Cheers, talk to you next week.

Remember the great bacon shortage of 2012? No? What about the one earlier this year? Still no? Well maybe that’s because they didn’t happen. The Oxford English dictionary defines post-truth as: "relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief". This week we're looking at why stories about food shortages take hold so quickly – whether they are true or not. We’ll start with a popular food story from recent weeks, which warned the US could be running out of bacon. Brad Tuttle, journalist with Time Magazine separates the facts from the fiction. But why do stories like these spread like wildfire? We speak to Michaela DeSoucey, Assistant Professor of Sociology at North Carolina State University, who says it’s not just our brains that react to food shortage scares – our behaviour changes too. And Paul Buckley, a psychologist at Cardiff Metropolitan University in Wales in the UK, explains why an abundance of information leaves the consumer confused. What can be done about all this confusion in a world where we are bombarded with information - and increasingly hear that we shouldn't believe much of what we are told? In a post-truth world, are we even more susceptible to exaggerated or untrue stories? We speak to Dominique Brossard, professor and chair in the Department of Life Sciences Information at the University of Wisconsin. Finally - in a week where famine is officially declared for the first time in six years by the United Nations (UN) - we turn to the most worrying headline of all: that the world could run out of food. We speak to Joel Cohen, professor of populations at the Rockerfeller University and Columbia University in New York and Abdolreza Abbassian, senior economist at the UN Food and Agricultural Organization. (Image: A long-nosed figure with a carrot dangling off the end leading people off a cliff. Credit: wildpixel/ Thinkstock)

The Oxford English dictionary defines "urgency" as... wait. Forget it! We don't have time for elaborate definitions and meditations on how to proceed. Let's all take a quick look at what we're making excuses for in our lives and get down to business. In this episode, Jay (aka- "The King of Procrastination") challenges us all to stop wasting energy on why we can't do something and to focus on starting. Like, today.

The second episode recorded at the WYRD101 studios. New words added to the Oxford English dictionary, office politics, a prank call, Jen's WTF moment, Jennie confesses an unpopular opinion, and of course more urine. Don't forget -- Tidewater Comicon is coming up soon! April 12th at the Crowne Plaza on Bonney Rd. in Virginia Beach. Doors open at 9. There's going to be all kind of cool panels, entertainment, vendors, and of course a costume contest.

Stative verbs - McLanguage change Hi and welcome to another great grammar lesson from New English Academy. I’m your host, Giles Parker, and today we’re going to learn about stative verbs, and in particular, how that famous burger chain, McDonalds has shown that grammar rules can change. This lesson is aimed at intermediate learners but anyone can learn something new from the vocabulary or the grammar, or just practice listening and reading comprehension. As usual, you can get the full online interactive comprehension, vocabulary and grammar explanations, the games and the tests at our website NewEnglishAcademy.com. Let me know if you like this lesson or any of the others by sending me an email or rating this on iTunes or Stitcher Radio. The more I know what you guys like, the better I can make lessons for you. Here in the beautiful Green Heart of Italy, I recently saw a sign of an invasion from another culture – a large McDonalds sign with its golden arches next to a main road advertising a new McDrive restaurant. I’m surprised because fast-food isn’t very popular here. My neighbors ask – why do you want to eat fast? The next nearest McDonalds is about 50 minutes’ drive away.  McDonalds is being very brave in trying to start a restaurant here.  Just my two cent’s worth, but I don’t think it will succeed here. American fast-food chains moving into other cultures isn’t really new news, but did you know that McDonalds has also had an effect on the English language too? This really means it is a successful business, just like that new verb ‘to Google’. Recently McDonalds disagreed with the Oxford English dictionary about the meaning of ‘McJob’ which still means a job that doesn’t pay well and that has little future. In the USA, you can have a large house that is not well built and costs too much and that your friends call a ‘McMansion’.  You can find this in the Oxford English Dictionary too! These new words are nouns. But McDonalds, willingly or unwillingly, has also popularised a new grammar rule. Their very successful advertising slogan says “i’m lovin’ it.” There – even my Microsoft Word underlines the slogan in red, showing there is something here with which it disagrees. Actually, there are two problems here – can you guess what they are? One problem is with the punctuation. Usually, first person singular ‘I’ is a capital letter. I know it is more fashionable with some people to use a lower-case ‘i’. Personally I don’t use it and I don’t recommend using it when writing something formal.  Maybe McDonalds started using it more than 10 years ago in order to be fashionable with younger people who were also starting to use lower-case ‘i’ in texts and messages to each other. But the other problem is a grammatical problem - about the verb, ‘to love’. Usually, this is a stative verb. A stative verb is a verb that doesn’t talk about an action or something that you do. Instead, stative verbs talk about a state, or a way of being, maybe something more internal, something inside you, but not an action. Stative verbs talk about emotions, appearances, preferences, mental states, possessions, and measurements. Grammatically, you can’t usually make a stative verb like ‘to love’ into the continuous or progressive by adding ‘to be’ and ‘ing’. For most native speakers, that usually sounds very strange.  Some people say it just isn’t correct.   McDonalds is showing us that grammar rules change and that in this case we can use a stative verb with ‘to be’ and ‘ing’. This doesn’t make it active, like you are really doing it, but perhaps it gives a sense of action to an emotion, or a preference, etc. This makes the internal state more immediate, more ‘now’. Perhaps McDonalds is using old words in new ways to give new meanings. The future is looking good for some stative verbs. Many people say they’re hating something rather than they hate it. Or, they’re thinking or feeling something rather than they think or feel it. McDonalds has certainly made a lot of money from showing that grammar rules can change.  I wonder what other companies help change language? Maybe I should google that.

Panel discussion talk on 'Book as Object' for the Oxford English Graduate Conference 2013.

The weekend when a load of new ‘techie’ terms made it into the new Oxford English dictionary including ‘retweet’, Joe McElderry booked in a tour date for the Philharmonic Hall, and the ‘Brief Encounters’ champ was getting big headed ahead of me going away to Italy for 10 days.

The weekend when a load of new ‘techie’ terms made it into the new Oxford English dictionary including ‘retweet’, Joe McElderry booked in a tour date for the Philharmonic Hall, and the ‘Brief Encounters’ champ was getting big headed ahead of me going away to Italy for 10 days.